


Anathema

by assassinslover



Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: AU, F/F, Gen, Vampires, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-06
Updated: 2014-08-03
Packaged: 2018-01-18 10:17:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 40,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1424836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/assassinslover/pseuds/assassinslover
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cosima strikes up an illicit affair with a young scientist from the V-division of DYAD, Alison slowly loses her grip on reality, and Sarah is being stalked by a ghost-like white wolf.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Pack

**Author's Note:**

> a-NATH-a-ma; a thing or person cursed, banned, or reviled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We meet the pack.

The woods were _alive_.

 

The few insects brave enough to emerge in the chill of early Spring chirped quietly. A few birds, not yet succumbed to slumber, sang soft tunes to one another. The wind rustled leaves, branches and bushes, and creaked eerily in the night. She heard all of it, even the quietest crunch of paws on the forest floor. She raised her head to sniff the air, cool and full of flowers and pheromones. When she exhaled in a puff, it misted in front of her. She licked her lips, waiting, patient, body slinking silently through the undergrowth. Above her, the moon peeked through the canopy. She was at one with the shadows it cast.

A twig cracked to her left and her head snapped to follow it, ears perked. She could smell her prey, unsuspecting and casually nosing about in the bushes for something to eat. Careful where she stepped, she made her way forward, keeping herself crouched low to the ground, ready to pounce at the opportune moment. She stopped when the deer lifted its head, an ear flicking. The moment it watched seemed last forever, but then it nipped at an itch on its shoulder and went back to eating.

She circled around, quiet as a ghost, eyes on the deer's throat. The deer raised its head again, and she lunged with a snarl, teeth sinking into flesh. She tasted blood on her tongue, hot and thick. The deer flailed, trying to kick her off, but she held firm and brought the animal down. Her jaws clenched, fangs sinking deeper, striking arteries and ripping them open. The animal was dead in seconds, and she feasted.

 

Sarah swaggered through a small, thick crop of trees and reached for the bag reaching at the foot of it, pulling out the clothes she had stashed there. She dressed efficiently, and checked her phone for messages as she pulled her sweater down over her stomach. Alison had texted, reminding her to take her pill. Sarah sighed and shoved her phone into her pocket, ruffling her hair and kicking her bag back into place, hidden among dead leaves and half bloomed bush branches. She'd take her bloody pill, Felix would make sure of it. She knew Alison did it out of some weird motherly instinct (and a healthy dose of paranoia), but it didn't make it any less annoying. She brushed blood off her lip and started to make her way out of the woods.

She arrived back at the loft in time to catch one of Felix's clients leaving. She hid around the wall, her sharp ears picking up the sound of bills being counted, and waited for the man to leave the floor before making herself visible and catching the door just before Felix slid it shut.

“You smell like shite,” he said, leaving her to lock the door behind her and stashing his money away. Sarah swiped at him, but he danced out of her reach and stuck his tongue out. “Take a shower, and take your bloody moon pill thing. Your paranoid sister won't stop texting me about it.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Sarah replied with a sigh, heading to the kitchen. “She won't leave me alone either.” She hated the pills. They made her feel like a dull blade, but Alison would have her head if she stopped. She'd been on edge ever since Beth died. Full moons made them wild, and Beth had wandered too close to the railroad.

“You only have to wait another week,” Felix called from across the room. “That's not so bad.” Sarah grunted and popped her medicine into her mouth, washing it down with a swig of water. She could still taste blood and skin and meat on her tongue. Felix threw clothes at her, aiming to hit her in the face, but her reflexes were too quick. “Go shower; you reek.” Sarah rolled her eyes and pushed past him to wash the grime of the night off. “Then get out of here, Colin is coming over!” A week, she thought. A hell of a week it was going to be.

 

The full moon hunts were the only ones that the three of them spent together. Cosima took the train and Alison drove, and they all met at Mrs. S' after Kira had been put to bed. Siobhan kept watch over Sarah's daughter while her and her sister's waited for midnight to strike. The basement was full of smoke from Cosima's joint, and it was irritating as all hell. Sarah sniffed irritably. Alison was just as annoyed by it, but unless Sarah made an issue of it, she wouldn't say anything, and pot was the only thing that kept Cosima from shifting when she wasn't supposed to. It was as cathartic to her as Alison's aggressive couponing was, but Alison had left her books at home, so she was holding a wine of glass with one hand with the bottle at her elbow. Sarah watched her. If she drank too much, she would be less than optimal when they hunted, and they needed to function as a proper pack.

The basement had been fashioned into a room suitable for holding the three of them. The furniture was shredded, but functioned well enough, and there was water and a freezer that held cuts of meat for nights when it was too dangerous for them to leave. A concealed door hid a tunnel that led into the closest forest. The door that led to the house proper was reinforced, and easily locked from the other side in case one of them got out of control (usually Sarah). It wasn't comfortable, but it suited its purpose well.

Sarah paced, practically wearing a hole in the floor, a low growl rumbling in her chest. She checked her watch for the fifth time in as many minutes, and snarled softly when it didn't show what she wanted. Across the room, Alison's jewellery clinked against her glass as she raised it for a drink, and Cosima blew a ring of smoke into the air. The end of the joint crackled when she inhaled again. The minutes dragged by like years. Sarah could feel the wolf under her skin, begging for her to let it out, like an itch she couldn't scratch. She looked at her watch again.

“Ten minutes,” she announced, turning on her heel to watch them. Alison finished her drink and went for another, but a look from Sarah stopped her. She daintily placed the glass next to the bottle and clasped her hands in her lap. Cosima took her time finishing her pot, and by the time she stubbed the butt of it out in the ashtray next to her, it was time to start moving. Sarah tossed each of them their bags (Alison's an annoying, obnoxious bright pink that stood out like a sore thumb in the dark of the forest) and shouldered her own.

They walked in silence, harsh, artificial lights illuminating their way. Sarah could already feel her bones starting to move. She bit the inside of her cheek, willing her shift to wait until they were in a safe place. She could hear her sisters struggling as well. Cosima inhaled sharply after something cracked, and audibly winced. Sarah glanced back to catch her flexing her hand, her fingers hooked. Alison looked ready to have an apoplexy, but save from a slight rolling of her skin, there were no other signs that she was ready.

Sarah pushed open the heavy door at the end of the tunnel, using her shoulder to help support the weight, and climbed into the night with a grunt. She waited until Cosima and Alison were clear before carefully shutting it again to avoid scaring off any nearby wildlife. She set her bag down and started to strip. The others followed her lead, tucking their clothes into the bags they had brought, stashed with an emergency change in case they shifted before they could undress, and burner phones to keep in contact with each other if they got lost. There was no point hiding; they all had the same bodies, although Cosima arguably was bustier than Sarah or Alison.

Sarah rolled her shoulders and cracked her neck, slowly exhaling, shaking her muscles to loosen them. She tilted her head back, glancing at the round moon poking through the trees, and closed her eyes. It hit her like a knife to the stomach, twisting her body over. She bit down on a scream as her bones and joints cracked and popped and her skin stretched, pain flashing like fire over her skin. She caught glances of Cosima and Alison in similar agony, fingers digging into the soft dirt and mud beneath them.

And then it was over, and in the place of human bodies, two wolves stood before Sarah, Cosima a dark brown, small and quick, and Alison a motley of grey and brown and white. Sarah shook her head and shoulders and clambered to her feet. She growled softly and snorted, sniffing the air, then started to trot deeper into the woods. Her pack mates followed behind her, Cosima on her left and Alison on the right. She knew their scents, and the sounds of their paws on the forest floor. She paused every now and then to test the air and see which one of the hundreds of scents she picked up would lead them to something rewarding. After a quarter of an hour she caught the trail of a deer, and altered her course to follow it. A moment later she sensed Cosima and Alison doing the same.

Sarah set the pace, keeping them at an even jog until the scent grew stronger, then breaking out into a run. Branches whipped past her, pulling at her fur, but she hardly felt them. All there was was the hunger gnawing at her stomach, and the lust for blood in her mouth. Cosima would circle around and block the prey's retreat once it caught onto their presence, and go for its throat while Sarah and Alison launched at its rear to bring it down. It was a plan they had executed countless times before. The key was getting close enough that the deer wouldn't get very far before Alison and Sarah were on it.

There; the deer was ahead of them, pawing at the ground in a small clearing, scraping a patchwork of snow off of new Spring grass. Cosima started to move to block it, but something cracked under her paw, and the deer's head shot up. It noticed them, and in a second it bolted. Sarah went to chase, but her prey had vanished into a thicket of trees, and was yards away before Sarah could get through the undergrowth. She whirled on Cosima, snapping at her sister's heels. Cosima slunk back, tail between her legs, and whimpered. Alison moved to comfort her while Sarah growled at the trees, her body coiling with frustration and anger. She barked sharply again, and flicked her tail in irritation before starting the process over again.

They brought down a fox (Sarah doing most of the work), nowhere near as good a dinner as a doe would have been. Sarah growled at Cosima when she tried to inch in for her share, and clicked her teeth in her face the second time. Cosima got the hint, and though she whined, she stayed back and waited until Sarah and Alison had had their fill, leaving Cosima nothing but scraps. She could eat the frozen meat in their reserves back at the house.

 

 


	2. Trapped

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosima falls into the clutches of a dangerous group of “people.”

“What the hell was that about!?” Sarah hissed, angrily pulling her jeans over her hips. Cosima stared at the ground, glad her glasses were still safe in their case in her bag so she couldn't see the look of fury on Sarah's face. She tugged her sweater on, glancing at Alison. Her sister had her back turned, dressing quickly. “Cosima!”

“Nothing!” Cosima replied defensively. She bent to tie her shoe, and retrieved her glasses before standing again, finally looking at her pack mate. Sarah was wrestling with her shirt, balled up in her haste to get it off before she shifted. Her torso and arms were covered in scars from bullets and knives and whips and all manner of weapons employed against their kind, and more than a few that she'd inflicted on herself, like the burns around her wrist where she'd worn a silver bracelet for days to try and build up a tolerance to it.

“That was a hell of a big nothing, Cos,” Sarah said, finally getting her shirt free and roughly struggling into it. “You smoke too much pot before, is that it?” She shook her head and wrenched the door to the tunnel open, muttering under her breath, “should have kept you from bloody smoking.” Cosima opened her mouth to snap that not everyone liked feeling like their body was about to explode before a hunt, but Alison laid a hand on her arm and kept her quiet. She bit her lip instead, sighing, and zipped her bag up. Sarah waited for the two of them to start down the steps before following and letting the door slam shut. She locked it, then shouldered past Cosima to take the lead again. Cosima glared at her, chewing on the inside of her lip. She hadn't meant to screw the hunt up, and it certainly hadn't been the pot. She had needed it to keep from clawing her own skin off, just like Alison had needed her wine, and if anything the weed had made her more focused on finding food, not less.

Sarah didn't say another word to her, not even when they'd gotten back to the house. She dumped her bag in its usual corner and stomped upstairs, leaving Cosima and Alison alone. Alison smiled tightly at her and retrieved her wine and glass from where she had left them, following. Cosima sighed again, and pinched the bridge of her nose before wrenching open the door to the freezer and ripping into a hunk of meat.

 

Sarah ripped the joint out of her hand the next night. Cosima protested loudly, reaching for it, but Sarah crumpled it in an iron grip and let the remains fall to the floor. Her eyes were hard. Cosima knew Sarah could hold a grudge, but they'd still caught a fox. It wasn't as good as a deer, but it was better than nothing. Cosima huffed, growling softly, and crossed her arms over her chest. Sarah didn't touch Alison's wine, just went back to her pacing. Her growls were louder than the previous night; deeper. Underneath her skin, bared by the tank top she wore, Cosima could see her muscles rippling. Her watch beeped.

“Let's go,” Sarah snapped, leaving Cosima and Alison to scramble out the door after her.

Cosima's ears perked to something scuttling through the bushes on her left. She turned her head towards the noise. Her steps paused. Alison brushed past her, nudging her to get her to move, but Cosima ignored her and started towards the noise. Before she could go more than a foot, Sarah was before her, growling softly. The meaning was clear; _stay with me._ Cosima tried to step past. Sarah snapped at her. Cosima yelped softly and stepped back with a whimper. Alison nuzzled her side. Sarah growled again and turned away, flicking her tail in Cosima's face. Cosima glared at her and turned, sulking back. Sarah barked, but didn't try to stop her.

 _I'll catch something_ , Cosima thought angrily, stalking through the woods. _I'll show her. I'll catch something all on my own. I've done it before. I'll catch a deer and eat it and she won't get to have any._ She picked up a scent not long after splitting from her pack and eagerly followed it. Lack of weed had made her angry and restless, but that smelled like the deer she was seeking. She'd bring it down and devour it before Sarah and Alison made their way back to her. She could have smiled. She paused by a large tree, testing the air again. Something in the back of her mind niggled; something wasn't quite right, but she couldn't see or hear or smell anything wrong, so she continued on.

There lay her prize. It was odd that there was a carcass out in the middle of nowhere, although it looked like something had been chewing on it. Perhaps they'd been chased away by humans. She crept closer, the fur on the scruff of her neck bristling, and carefully sniffed. Now that she was closer, something did smell... off, but she couldn't determine what it was. She licked her nose. It was nothing, she was sure. Shaking her shoulders, she padded towards the corpse, mouth watering. _Score._

Something slammed shut behind her the second she buried her face in the meat, which wasn't meat at all. She scrambled back, whirling, and found herself in a cage. Furious, afraid, Cosima threw herself against the sides, growling and barking, clawing and biting at the bars. _Ohh, not good, not good, not good._ She howled, hoping that it would draw the attention of her pack mates, and waited, but no response came. She rushed the cage door again, throwing her shoulder against it, but it didn't budge. Cosima yipped sharply as pain shot down her leg and lifted her paw off the ground. She sat down hard when putting weight on her leg proved useless. Eventually she had no choice but to curl up, trying to protect her injured limb, and wait for whoever would come to claim her.

A crunch several hours later startled her back into action. Cosima growled, puffing her fur up and making herself seem larger than she really was, but something sharp pricked at her neck. The colours of the world blurred together. She shook her head to clear it and stumbled to the side. Her shoulder jolted when she fell hard to the floor again, and though she tried to scramble to her feet, she didn't have the energy, and her front leg was useless. She heard the scrape of the cage door opening before she passed out.

Cosima couldn't say how long later she woke again, but when she did she was cold and naked and could hear the rumbling of an engine. She groaned, shifting. The movement sent a stab of pain through her arm and shoulder. She winced, reaching for it. Human again, then. Someone was with her, she could smell them.

“She's waking up,” a voice said, male, older. Cosima tried to sit up. “What should I do?”

“Up the dosage!” another person called from the front. _No, nononono, no more drugs._ Cosima opened her eyes, shouting and pushing her captor away with her uninjured hand, but she was weak from her wound and lack of food, and he easily overpowered her. _I'm so fucked,_ she thought, squirming weakly as a needle poked through her skin and the world started to spin again. _I'm so fucked. So fucked._ Her heart beat loudly in her ears. Cosima reached for her captor, trying to grab onto his shirt, but he locked the door of another cage and reclaimed his seat. The last thing she saw was the barrel of a gun pointed at her.

 

“Sarah, would you just _come here_? You're absolutely covered in blood; you can't go back like that! You'll scare Kira!” Sarah grunted softly. The hunt had mellowed her out, her anger now reduced to the simmering tension that stretched under her skin around the full moon. She crouched by her bag and jerked the zip open, pulling out a stained towel and wiping off the worst of the grime coating her skin before Alison had a fit.

“There, better?” she asked, looking over her shoulder. Alison glared at her, arms crossed over her chest, then threw her hands up with a sigh and moved for her own bag. “Kira won't see. I'll shower before she wakes up, yeah? Stop your bloody worrying.” Alison huffed, but Sarah's answer seemed to have appeased her. Sarah cast her eyes about the woods as she dressed, frowning. “Hey, where's Cosima?”

“I don't know. Maybe she hasn't shifted back yet.” Sarah hummed. It was possible. Sarah had definitely prolonged her transformations before, but it wasn't like Cosima. She _was_ always late though. It wouldn't have been the first time that Sarah and Alison had gotten back before her, even when they stayed together through the hunt. Cosima was just as tardy as a wolf as she was human.

“Guess we'll just wait for her to show up, then.” So they did. Five minutes passed, then ten. Sarah paced around, hands shoved into her pockets, and Alison leaned against a tree, her fingers constantly reaching for a necklace that she had left back at the house to keep it safe. Sarah had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. Cosima was never _this_ late, only five minutes at the most, and she couldn't smell her either. She shoved a hand through her hair.

“Sarah?” Alison called in a shaky voice. Sarah stopped her walking to look over at her. “What if she got hit by a train?” Sarah sighed and gave Alison a smile she hoped was comforting.

“We're not near the railroad, Ali, calm down. She probably just got lost. You know how useless she is without her glasses. When was the last time you saw her?”

“Not since she was going after that rabbit or whatever it was, and you-”

“Right, yeah, I snapped at her and I bloody shouldn't've. Okay.” She ran her hand over her face, rubbing off dried blood in the process.

“Well?” Alison prodded, her voice tight and high. “What do we do?”

“We go look for her! Come on, I'll need your nose too.” They hoisted their bags over their shoulders and started back towards where they'd come from.

It was a good fifteen minutes of retracing their steps and following the trail that Cosima had left before Sarah picked up on her scent. She hated how dulled her senses were when she was human, made worse by the pills that Alison made them all take, but between the two of them they narrowed in on her last location. Sarah growled a second before Alison inhaled sharply and made a noise of disgust. That was Cosima all right, and deer, and _vampire._ Sarah jogged forward, following her nose. There was nothing but a slight disturbance in the leaves. Sarah growled, eyes scouring the area, then threw her bag down roughly with a loud curse. Behind her, Alison jumped.

“DYAD,” Sarah spit. “God dammit!” Her chest rumbled angrily.

“DYAD?” Alison repeated in a small voice. “You mean they-”

“Yeah. They took her. _Jesus bloody Christ!_ ”

“Well, what do we do?” Sarah shrugged roughly, hands slapping against her thighs.

“I'm not gonna just leave her there.” She turned around, retrieving her bag and throwing it over her shoulder. Alison followed her as she headed back in the direction of the tunnel. “We're gonna tell Mrs. S and we're gonna get her the hell out of there before they hurt her.”

 


	3. DYAD

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosima wakes up in a strange white cell and meets a certain blonde scientist tasked with overseeing her evaluations.

The pain woke her up again. She tried to move her arm, but it was practically useless, a dead weight at her side. Cosima cursed, wincing and suck in a breath through her teeth until the wave of pain passed and she could open her eyes to take in her surroundings. The room was white and bright. Cosima squinted up at the ceiling from where she lay on a lumpy bed in the corner, and slowly propped herself up on one elbow. There was a little door on the other side of the room, opening and leading into a bathroom that looked more like a closet, and a chair and table in the middle of the space. It wasn't until she noticed that the room's fourth wall was a large pane of thick glass that she realized she was naked, and started looking for something to wear. On the seat of the chair was a neatly folded pile of clothing; white pants and a white shirt and white socks. Cosima swung her legs over the side of the bed, holding her injured arm tightly against her body.

Dressing provided almost more of a challenge than her still drug-addled mind was really ready for. The pain was back again, sharp and constant, and her hand shook as she fumbled one handed into the pants. The shirt was a problem all on its own. Cosima stared at it, trying to figure out how she could lift her arm to get into it, then settled for straightening her arm as best she could, gritting her teeth against her shoulder's angry protests, and drawing the shirt up to her shoulder before pulling it over her head and slipping her good arm through. There was a patch on the sleeve. _324B21. Is that supposed to be me? Where the hell am I?_

It was hard for her to see without her glasses, tucked away in their case in her bag back at the tunnel. She tried the other door in the room, reinforced steel set in the glass, but it was locked like she knew it would be. Pressing her face up against the wall, Cosima looked out. There were three other rooms that she could see from where she was, all like hers, and all empty. She sniffed experimentally, and beneath the sharp sterilized air picked up a hint of something familiar, the same something that had been buried in that fake deer body in the woods. _Oh, fuck, I fucked up. I really fucked up. Shit. How the hell do I get out of here_?

Footsteps. Her first instinct was to run and hide, but the only place to hide was the bathroom, and whoever was coming would have absolutely no trouble finding her there. She backed hastily away from the glass, bumping into the table. She reached out to steady herself, knuckles whitening as she gripped the edge. A man with a clipboard came into view, tall and bald, with a sharp face and a white lab coat. He glanced up at her and smiled. It made Cosima's skin crawl. He called to someone to his left, and a woman approached, blonde hair curling gently against her shoulders. Cosima stared at her and the woman stared back, honeyed eyes flicking from Cosima's terrified own to her shoulder. She opened her mouth to try and interject to what the man was saying, but he didn't pay her any mind.

“324B21,” the man said, looking up from his papers again. “I'm surprised to see you here. I thought you'd be able to elude us for a while longer. My name is Aldous Leekie, I'm the head of L-Project at this facility. Don't worry, I mean you no harm.” _I mean you a fuckload of harm,_ Cosima thought angrily, scowling at the two of them.

“Where arm I?” she asked, her voice cracking sharply. “What do you want with me?” Leekie smiled.

“All in good time,” he said, and handed his files to his companion. He lowered his voice, but Cosima was alert, and she easily picked up what he was saying. “I'd like you to take her to the lab and run an initial evaluation on her now that she's awake. The drugs should still be dulling her senses, so the worst you'll get out of her is a sarcastic remark or two.” The woman nodded and watched Leekie walk away before stepping to the side. Cosima heard the click of a lock and then the door opened, and a wealth of scents met her. Cosima scrunched up her nose with a snarl. This must have been what Sarah meant all those times that she told Cosima she'd always be able to recognize a vampire, but it wasn't coming from the woman. It must have been from Leekie, but her captor wasn't human either. She cleared her throat.

“If you'll come with me, Miss Niehaus,” she said in accented English. The grumble that vibrated in Cosima's chest stopped at the sound of her voice. She pulled her bad arm close to her chest and carefully padded across the floor, still looking for a way to escape. The woman stepped aside to let her out of the room, but a firm hand on her shoulder, guiding her down the hall, pushed all ideas of running from her mind. Even if she hadn't been injured she was too fatigued to fight the blonde off.

The lab looked more like a room at a doctor's office, and had more warmth within its walls than her cell did. The woman gestured for her to sit on the bench and closed the door behind them, setting her clipboard down on the counter with a sigh. She looked over Cosima's shoulder again, then smiled warmly.

“Your shoulder is dislocated,” she said. Cosima rolled her eyes. She knew that already. The blonde ignored her lack of response and carefully stepped towards her. She growled. “I would like to fix it before I do anything else.” Cosima turned her head away, staring at the wall. The woman inched closer. Cosima hissed at her again, but her shoulder twitched and she broke. She wasn't built for dealing with pain like that, not unless she had a copious amount of weed and by the look of things she wouldn't be getting that any time soon. “Please,” the blonde continued. Cosima glared hard at her, then nodded after a few seconds. She tried her very best not to wince as the woman raised her arm, but couldn't stop whimpering when her shoulder was shoved back into its socket. A couple seconds later the pain lessened to a manageable degree, and Cosima felt herself relax. She scolded herself for it, tensing again as the blonde fixed a sling for her to rest her arm in until her body healed itself.

The evaluation that followed could have been a routine visit to a physician if it wasn't for the fact that the halls reeked of vampires and Cosima was in far more danger than she would be on a simple once a year visit. The doctor held up a needle.

“I promise this won't hurt,” she said. Cosima snorted, but held out her arm. The blonde drew blood from her with shaking hands. As soon as the needle was free she licked her lips and turned her head away, and quickly pressed a cotton ball to the inside of Cosima's elbow.

“Not used to the scent of blood then?” Cosima asked sarcastically. The blonde glanced at her. “It's not like it matters if you bite me. Don't think we have to worry about them.”

“You don't,” the woman replied. “I'm here to evaluate you, not harm you.”

“No, no, I mean like-” she gestured and winced as she moved her injured arm. “As a species,” she continued through grit teeth.

“You don't,” the woman repeated. She tested Cosima's reflexes and her hearing, asked about any history of disease in her family. Cosima almost said she was adopted on top of having lycanthropy, but kept her mouth shut and answered with a simple “no” instead. Sarcasm wasn't going to get her anywhere. If she was clever enough she could use this woman to get out. She was nicer than Leekie, that much was clear, and she smelled better, too. It wasn't perfume, Cosima could tell the difference, it was just _her_. Soap and shampoo and skin. During her vision test Cosima squinted, trying to see the little letters, but it was useless.

“Do you wear glasses?” the woman asked. Cosima glared at her.

“Obviously,” she said dryly. The blonde made a mark on her clipboard. Cosima sighed, looking around. The equipment was top notch, she could tell that much. “What are you testing for?” she asked. The woman looked up.

“I'm not testing for anything,” she replied. “I'm writing up a general health evaluation. You should be happy to know that aside from your shoulder, you're perfectly fine.”

“That's great news, doc,” Cosima said. “Now if you could just show me how to get out of here...” The blonde laughed, a gentle, light sound that made Cosima's heart flutter. She sighed softly, resisting the smile that pulled on her lips.

“I'm afraid I can't do that,” the woman said, “but I _can_ give you ice for you shoulder and escort you back to your room.” Cosima huffed softly, looking over the blonde's shoulder as she settled a cold pack under the strap of Cosima's sling, adjusting it until it rested over the worst of the swelling.

“Worth a try, right?” Cosima said. The woman smiled sadly at her, and with her clipboard tucked under her arm and her fingers lightly curled around Cosima's elbow, led her back to her cell.

They brought her lunch, but even though the meat was bloody how she liked it, it was cold and gamy and too tough for her to cut with the shitty plastic knife and fork they gave her, leaving her trying to keep from getting blood onto her shirt with marginal success. Her whites were still white, but her hands and face were bright red. Cosima felt her cheeks darken to match when the blonde passed by outside the glass and stopped for half a moment to peer in. Cosima hastily wiped off her face with the paper napkin they had supplied and smiled. The woman didn't return it. Cosima tried to get a glance at the badge clipped to her coat, but the blonde was gone before she could. Cosima slumped back in her seat and threw her napkin on top of her half-finished meal.

The woman came back around dinner time, just after Cosima had finished eating. She'd been bored out of her mind since she had been left on her own again, and her efforts to find a way out had been cut short when she noticed the small camera in one of the corners. Her shoulder ached and she was scared and tired and hungry and didn't know where she was. All she wanted was her pack mates, but the blonde was a pretty good replacement.

“Heyyy,” Cosima greeted when the blonde opened the door, shutting it firmly behind her before Cosima could so much as think about bolting. She had another ice pack in her hand. “You know what, I never even got your name, but I am so happy to see you. I'm literally climbing the walls here.”

“Not literally, I think,” the woman replied, pointing at Cosima's shoulder. Cosima glanced at it and shrugged her good one.

“Whatever, you get the point. You think they would have at least given me a deck of cards or a tennis ball or something.” The woman's eyes lit up, her lips curving into an amused smirk. “Hey, no dog jokes!”  
“I wasn't going to make one,” the woman replied, stepping closer. “I'm here to check your shoulder. Shirt off, please.” Cosima settled back in her chair and carefully wrangled the shirt off, holding it against her chest to cover her breasts. She wasn't shy, not really, but it felt like the polite thing to do, especially when the blonde's eyes wandered and then snapped back to Cosima's shoulder in a way that seemed embarrassed, but without a blush on her cheeks there was no way to know for sure. She winced as the woman gently prodded, but her proximity let Cosima look at the name on her tag.

“Delphine,” she said, and the woman's head shot up, eyes narrowing. She glanced down at her badge as if it had intentionally betrayed her. “Sorry, is giving names against the rules? Shouldn't wear badges around the subjects then.” Delphine sighed, moving Cosima's arm around and softly rotating her shoulder. “Seriously, think you can at least bring me a shitty magazine? There's gotta be offices around here, right?”

“You can put your shirt back on,” Delphine said, straightening and waiting for Cosima to struggle back into her top. She went to help her put her arm back in the sling, but Cosima waved her off. “Do you still want the ice?”

“No,” Cosima said.

“You've healed remarkably quickly...” Delphine muttered, a hand hovering in the air between them.

“Yeah,” Cosima replied absently. “Seriously, like, if you could just get me something to read.” Delphine cleared her throat.

“I'll see what I can do,” she said. Cosima smiled at her, the first genuine one she'd given in the past two days. Delphine stilled, something curious in her eyes, then cautiously smiled back and collected both ice packs and the sling. Cosima watched her walk out the door. She paused outside the glass window, taking one last look, then bit her lip and walked away. Cosima stared out at the hall for a short while longer, then sighed and went to bed. Sleep eluded her the entire night. She wondered what Sarah and Alison were doing. There was no way that Sarah would let these people just keep her. She had to have a plan, something stupid and dangerous and reckless that Alison would hate but wouldn't have any choice to go along with. _Yeah, they're gonna get me and Sarah will yell at me for being an idiot, but it's fine. Yeah, it's fine._

 


	4. Stupid Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Delphine has doubts and Sarah comes up with a stupid plan to get Cosima back.

Delphine didn't know what she was doing, but she was fairly sure that poking around in her office looking for something to give to a captured werewolf of all things was very high on the list of things that were against the rules, but there she was doing it anyway. She didn't have any magazines, but she did have a stress ball from a convention the year before, with a company logo printed on the side of it, and plenty of books. Cosima didn't notice her when she returned, and for a few moments she stood just next to the glass and peered around the wall, watching her. She shifted to lean her shoulder against the wall, her foot scuffing. Cosima sat up sharply, her body tense, but relaxed when she noticed who it was, squinting. Delphine wished she had a pair of glasses to give her, but Aldous wouldn't approve.

She entered the room, holding her prizes in the air. Cosima sat up. Delphine didn't miss how her gaze snapped to the door, face falling when her only route of escape was cut off again. Her full attention turned back to Delphine, eyes shining in the bright light. Delphine inhaled deeply. She smelled different than the others; not like sweat and blood and wet dog, but like weed and damp earth and something _living_ that pulled Delphine towards her. Her fangs twinged.

“I brought you something,” she said, setting the book and ball on the table and turning to leave. She hear Cosima's bare feet on the floor as she padded over.

“I know this logo,” she said. “We have these microscopes in the lab at school. Well, we have one.” She squeezed it. “Everyone's always fighting over who gets to use it because it's so much clearer than the others.” Delphine wanted to ask where she went to school and what she studied, but she bit her tongue and gave Cosima as professional a smile as she could manage. “Thanks for bringing these.” Delphine nodded.

“Good night,” she said, and left, striding down the hall without looking back.

Delphine took Cosima's files home with her, hoping Leekie wouldn't mind if he found out. She doubted that he would. Cosima had been assigned to her after all, and was under her charge. She needed to know everything she could find out, and it would hardly be plausible for her to spend the entire day in her office. She didn't have to go far; the apartments for DYAD's V-department employees were connected to the next building over by a series of tunnels. A short walk and a lengthy elevator ride later and Delphine was home, letting herself into her flat with a weary sigh.

She tossed the file onto the counter on her way into the kitchen, keys lightly chinking next to it. Her fridge was bare except for piles of blood bags and bottles of wine. Delphine stared into it, deciding between the two, and went for blood instead to stop her teeth aching and push away the burning in the back of her throat. _It's just because you've went all day without feeding,_ she told herself as she watched the timer on the microwave tick down. _It has nothing to do with Cosima, even if she does smell better than anything else in that wretched place._ As the countdown neared zero, she fetched a wineglass down and spent the remaining time turning it in her hand and examining the crystal in her hands.

Bagged blood smelled clinical, and had nothing on a fresh feed, but Delphine had taken a vow after the first human she killed that she would never feed off anyone again, so it would have to do. It tasted vaguely like plastic, but blood was blood, and it satisfied her hunger enough that she could concentrate. She settled on her sofa and set her glass down next to the folder, flipping it open. Cosima's bloodwork and test results written in Delphine's neat cursive lay before her. She sighed, propping her chin in her palm.

There were more forms for her to fill out, filled with questions about how Cosima reacted to certain stimuli, about her personality and her strengths and weaknesses Most of them Delphine wouldn't be able to answer until the proper testing had begun, but she thought she had a pretty good taste of Cosima's personality. _Witty and charming and entirely too optimistic for someone who is locked in a cage._ Delphine ran her hand through her hair, pulling at the curls, and slouched back against the couch.

She had thought all werewolves were monsters. The ones she had interacted before had spit at her, barking and growling and bristling, hostile inside and out. Something about Cosima was different. Aside from her initial reaction, which Delphine was sure had been born of fear and suspicion, she had been just shy of sweet, curious and cautious, but she had made and effort to talk to Delphine like she was a person and not some faceless demon who brought her nothing but pain and death. Knowing that she was in that cell, where anyone could see her every move, made Delphine's gut twist, but there was nothing she could to to fix it.

 

Sarah stroked Kira's hair away from her face, watching her daughter sleep. A deep part of her hoped that the girl wouldn't have to deal with the same affliction her mother did, but she knew that wouldn't come to pass. All she could do was cherish the innocence Kira had until puberty hit and everything started to change all at once. When she was sure Kira was asleep, Sarah got up and quietly shut the door, watching the creaking of the stairs as she joined Siobhan and Alison in the kitchen. They both looked up when they heard her boots on the floor, and Siobhan pulled out a chair for her to sit, and gave her a pointed stare until Sarah pushed off the wall with a sigh and took it.

“We know where they are,” Sarah started, ignoring the mug of tea that Siobhan pushed towards her, “and they don't know that we know they have Cosima. I say we just shift, storm the building and get her out, and kill anyone who gets in our way.” Siobhan sighed and Alison gave her a horrified look. “What?” Sarah asked. “It's not like there are innocents in there. It's a nest of _vampires_ , Alison, and I would _love_ to get my fangs into them. It's been too long since I've had their blood in my mouth.”

“Sarah,” Siobhan scolded. Alison took a hasty sip of her coffee.

“ _What?_ We have the element of surprise, Siobhan, and I haven't come across a vamp I haven't been able to beat.”

“It's a stupid plan, Sarah. You'll both get yourselves killed doing that. I won't allow it.”

“What do you suggest we do them?” Sarah asked, frustration building up. She suppressed the irritated growl that started in her chest.

“If you give me a couple days-” Siobhan started.

“We don't have a couple days!” Sarah shouted, standing so roughly that she knocked the table and spilled her tea. Siobhan's hand darted out to catch the mug before it fell to the floor. Sarah stalked across the room, growling, her arms crossed over her chest. “Cosima is having God knows what done to her in there! She might not _have_ a couple days! You know how ruthless those bastards are, Siobhan!”

“Calm down, Sarah, love,” Siobhan said, hands raised, patting the air. Sarah snarled and shoved her hand through her hair. “At least listen.”

“We don't have time to sit around bitching and bickerin'! I have to get her back.”

“Sarah, going in there is suicide,” Alison cut in, her voice small. Sarah whirled on her.

“This pack is _my_ responsibility, Alison, and I am not going to lose another-” The look on Alison's face stopped her rant in its tracks. Some of the fight drained from her. Shoulders slumping, she sighed and snatched a cloth from the sink to wipe up the spill on the table. “I'm sorry, Ali.” Alison waved her off, but her hands were curled by her chin, and her lip was trembling. When she thought Sarah wasn't looking, she flicked her fingers across her eyes with a soft sniff and shifted in her chair.

“If you give me a couple days,” Siobhan said again, watching Sarah as she slowly sat and swirled what was left of her tea around, “I can get you blueprints for the building, and you can sneak in, grab Cosima, and sneak back out, and if everything goes to plan, there won't be much bloodshed.” Sarah bit down a comment about liking the bloodshed, glancing at a solemn Alison, and reluctantly nodded.

“Three days,” she said firmly, leaving no room for argument in her voice. “We get this done in three days, or we're going with my plan. I'm not leaving her there any longer than that. Who knows what they've done to her already.”

“Fair enough,” Siobhan replied, and left Sarah and Alison for bed. Sarah picked at the edge of the table with her nail. Alison sighed, finished her coffee, and softly set her mug down.

“I miss her, too, Ali,” Sarah said softly, glancing at her sister without raising her head. Alison nodded stiffly.

“Let's just focus on getting Cosima back from DYAD, okay?” Sarah nodded.

“Yeah, okay.” She wouldn't lose another pack member. Not ever again.

 


	5. Tests

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosima is subjected to DYAD’s “tests”, a bond is formed, and a decision is made

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for torture.

Someone not Delphine brought Cosima her breakfast. She was disappointed, but the almost overwhelming vile scent of several different vampires staved it off. The man who gave her her food didn't even bother to open the door, just shoved the tray violently through a slot a the bottom of it. The carton of juice tipped over the side and the plastic fork clatter to the floor next to it. Cosima stiffly collected everything and glared at him as he leaned on the wall across from her cell and watched her sit and eat without tasting what she'd been given.

She was tired, and irritable and cold. The blanket on the bed was thin and scratchy, and she had done everything but sleep the previous night. The lights were dimmed at night, but not so much that she couldn't easily read by them, and with no clock in the room, her sense of time was warped. She'd finished the book Delphine had brought her, a good distraction while it lasted, and spent the rest of the night, or day, or whatever it had been, squeezing the stress ball and throwing it against the wall. She had tried doing push-ups once, but the weight on her shoulder had made her arm buckle.

Now all she could do was pick at her food and wait for whatever inevitable tests they had planned. Cosima had no idea what was coming. Sarah had horror stories, but her sister had never been caught by vampires. She always killed them before they got a chance to subdue her. If Cosima hadn't been so stupid and stubborn and proud, she'd be with them right now. She would gladly suffer Sarah's anger a hundred times over if it would have saved her from her current fate.

But then she wouldn't have met Delphine... Cosima sighed and threw her fork down, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms over her chest. She glared at the man watching her again, matching his blurry sneer with one of her own. He stalked off. Annoyed, Cosima blinked and rubbed at her eyes, burning from lack of sleep. She hated not being able to see clearly. It made her feel weak and vulnerable, especially without her pack nearby.

The man returned to let her out, his bulk filling the door frame. Cosima curled her toes inside her socks and reluctantly rose from her seat.

“Come on, mutt, move it!” the man barked, giving Cosima a shove to get her out the door. She growled at him, her shoulder throbbing. It had healed well enough for her to use it, but it was stiff and tender, her flesh still a motley of colour.

“Rude much?” she snapped, stumbling slightly as he pushed her again. “Hey!”  
“Shut up, dog,” came the harsh reply. “Just keep walking.” Cosima snarled softly, but walked. The man set the pace, keeping her from shuffling like she wanted to. She wrinkled her nose as the smell of vampire grew stronger; she felt like a rotting corpse would have smelled better. Her escort practically threw her into a bare room and locked the door behind her. Cosima glanced around, rubbing at the goosebumps on her arms, and tried her very best not to let her anxiety and fear make her sick. She would be strong, like Sarah. They would not break her.

 

Delphine knew the tests would be painful; they had to be. They were designed for it. All the poking and prodding, meant to stretch limits and force transformations, to see how long the subjects could survive when subjected to various elements. Most of them were precious metals, the most dangerous of which Delphine knew was silver, but that would be later. For now it was questions and needles, and irritants that would hopefully force Cosima to shift.

She watched from the observation room, hidden behind glass, with Leekie next to her occasionally issuing instructions to the researchers that were working with Cosima. Delphine was supposed to be making notes, but she'd hardly moved her pen, her eyes instead focused on the subject-no, woman-on the other side of the wall. Cosima's aggression level was surprisingly low. She was obviously bothered by the testing, but it only had half of her attention. She was looking for a way out, Delphine realized after several minutes, and bit her lip to keep from sighing and alerting Aldous, hoping that he hadn't drawn the same conclusion.

The only violent outbreak she had, despite being in obvious pain from her shoulder and whatever chemicals kept being pumped into her veins, was the fifth or sixth time that one of the scientists approached her with another needle, and she shoved him so hard that he flew across the room and smacked into the wall with a resounding crack. Her lips were curled up in a snarl, arms hugged protectively over her chest to protect them.

“Perhaps we should break for today?” Delphine asked quietly. Aldous glanced at her. “They're doing nothing more than irritating her. She won't shift in this state.” His gaze was heavy, judging. He pressed the comm button.

“Restrain her and continue.” Delphine looked away to hide her disappointment. It shouldn't have been so hard for her to watch but she knew what the liquid in those needles was designed to do, what everything in DYAD was designed to do; hurt werewolves, people like Cosima. It was another hour before Aldous finally relented, and by then Cosima was hardly able to sit, only the straps that held her to her chair keeping her from toppling out of it.

“That's enough for today,” Aldous said softly, and brushed past Delphine and out of the room without a second glance at her or Cosima. The men in the room helped their companion to stand and escorted Cosima from the chamber. Delphine stepped into the hall in time to follow, and caught the wolf's gaze. It looked almost hopeful when she realized who Delphine was, but there was no smile waiting her. Delphine repressed a wince when one of Cosima's escort's shoved on her injured shoulder to get her into her cell, and turned away when the heavy door slammed shut and locked her in.

The next day was more of the same. Delphine made sure she was there when they fetched Cosima from her cell, and trailed along behind them with her files hugged to her chest. Cosima put up a fight, but not a strong one, causing more of an inconvenience than anything else as she twisted against the hands that held her arms and dug her heels into the floor. The look she gave Delphine when they split, her to the test chamber and Delphine to observation, just bordered on pleading.

 

Cosima snarled at the first person to come at her with a needle, but they'd strapped her to a chair again, and she felt less than threatening, even with her chest vibrating in a deep growl. The needle itself didn't hurt, but after a few seconds it felt like someone had injected muscle pain gel directly into her veins except without all the nice soothing properties that it normally provided, and _god dammit it itched._ Cosima tried to scratch at her arm, but all she could do was jerk her wrists against the metal cuffs that held her hands down. By the time the burning had stopped, her shirt was soaked with sweat and there was a shift lurking under her skin, begging her to let it go. Her gums ached as her teeth stretched into fangs, but she bit down on it, squeezing her eyes shut.

They let her sit there, slowly sweating out whatever they'd injected her with, until Leekie's voice echoed through the chamber ordering his lackeys to take her back to her cell. She almost sighed with relief. If that was all they were going to do to her that day she could handle that. She'd reread the book that Delphine had given her and maybe squeeze that stress ball until she felt less like she was losing control. The scientists unlocked her restraints and, with a soldier at each elbow, holding her firmly, she was taken from the chamber back to her cell. She ignored her things on the table, exhaustion seeping into her bones, and made a beeline for her bed, curling up on the mattress with her face to the wall, and waited for the sweating and shaking to stop.

 

Aldous sent Delphine to fetch her an hour later, to check and see if the injection had run its course. Delphine went reluctantly, careful not to let it show. She peeked through the glass before she swiped her badge. Cosima was on her bed, not moving except for her breathing, her clothes sticking to her skin. Delphine bit her lip and let herself into the room. As soon as the door opened Cosima tensed and turned, but relaxed when she noticed Delphine and curled up again.

“How are you feeling?” Delphine asked, locking the door behind her.

“Never better,” Cosima grumbled. Delphine rolled her eyes at the wolf's sarcasm, striding across the room to her bedside. “Better,” Cosima continued, “now that you're here.”

“You are very... smooth, you know that? Delphine asked, carefully sitting on the edge of the bed. Cosima rolled onto her back to make room, squinting up at her and rubbing her eyes. Delphine could see clearly the streaks her sweat had made, clear lines over her dirty skin. “Too much for your own good.”

“Would you rather I be rough?” Cosima asked with a wolfish grin, flashing her teeth. “That's what they want, apparently.”

“I do not,” Delphine said firmly, and slowly raised her hand. Cosima flinched, watching it carefully, but Delphine did nothing more than lay the back of it against Cosima's cheek to check for a temperature. Cosima groaned.  
“Oh, Jesus, that's like an ice pack, please don't move your hand.” A frown tugged at Delphine's lips. She let her hand linger. Cosima was still warm, but not enough that Delphine would be able to justify letting her lie there for another hour, as much as her gut begged for her to do so. “Why do you care how I feel?” Delphine chewed on her lip. The question caught her off guard. Why _did_ she care? Cosima was the enemy. She should have been satisfied to see her in a state of such discomfort. It meant that she was doing her job.

“I am sorry, but you're fighting this off, so I need to take you back for another test,” she said instead, avoiding. Cosima sighed and pushed Delphine's hand away.

“Oh, goodie,” she said dryly. Delphine stood and went to fetch the escort from outside the cell. He purposefully strode across the room, rifle slung over his shoulder, and wrenched Cosima to her feet, hand tight around her injured arm. Cosima yelped in pain and snapped at him, fangs glinting in the bright light of the room. He dragged her out into the hall, squirming and pushing at his hand, a loud snarl rumbling in her chest. Delphine quickly followed.

“Do not mishandle my patients!” she snapped.

“I'm sorry, miss,” the soldier growled, “but I'm here to make sure she doesn't hurt you or try to get out, and she needs to know who's in charge. Mutts like her don't respond to anything but force.” Delphine's fangs stung in annoyance, but she let his comment slide. At least the trip down the hall wasn't long. He threw Cosima into the test chamber, slammed the door shut, and turned sharply on his heel, standing to attention. Delphine narrowed her eyes at him and let herself into the observation room. Aldous was already there, sitting in a plush chair with a mug of blood at his elbow. The scent made Delphine's nose twitch but she ignored it. She settled in the free chair next to him.

The test room had been cleared of everything. Cosima stood in the middle of it, rubbing her shoulder with a grimace and looking puzzled. Delphine spread out her files on the desk in front of her and waited until a young man entered the room a few minutes later. He was new, Delphine could tell by the twitching of his hands and the red that rimmed his pupils. When he grinned cruelly at Cosima, his fangs were full and sharp. Aldous gave him the go ahead and he crossed to her. She opened her mouth to say something, but his fist cracked into her nose and snapped her head back. Blood spurted down her shirt and onto the floor.

“Jesus Christ!” Cosima shouted, holding her hand over her face. “What the hell!?” The vamp swept her feet out from under her with an easy kick. Delphine winced when she landed hard on her bad arm. Cosima tried to curl up into a ball, but the vamp got a kick into her stomach before she could.

“Shift, dammit!” he yelled at her, heavy boots leaving scuff marks and bloody bruises on her skin. Cosima's answering growl was loud enough that Delphine could clearly hear it through the glass observation window, and her eyes flashed a wicked shade of gold. She spat blood onto the floor, bright and stark against its sterile white.

“No.” The vamp's foot connected with her ribs. Next to Delphine Aldous chuckled and lifted his mug to his lips.

“She's stubborn,” he said. Delphine hummed in agreement. Part of her hoped that Cosima _would_ shift, and rip the vamp's throat out and stop her torture, but that was what Aldous wanted, and she knew Cosima wouldn't break that easily.

They dragged her out of the room half an hour later, a mess of blood and bruises and stained clothes, feet fumbling against the floor as she weakly struggled against the hands holding her. Aldous tutted disappointingly and shook his head.

“Tomorrow,” he assured Delphine and swept from the room. Delphine sighed and leaned back in her chair, throwing her pen down. She watched the cleaners come and wipe Cosima's blood off the floor, ridding the room of every speck of red and brown and black until it was back to a sparkling white sheen. The ticking of her watch filled the empty room. She glanced absently at it. The day was over. Collecting her things, she left the test chamber behind, but instead of heading towards the tunnels to go home, she found herself walking down the hall to the cells. She chalked up the desire in her stomach as an opportunity to complete the files she held in her hands.

Cosima was curled up in the corner of her bed, carefully inspecting herself. Even from outside Delphine could see how stiffly she was holding her shoulder. Whatever chemical they had injected her with earlier had greatly slowed down her healing process. Bruises that Delphine knew should have been gone still stood out against her skin. She was sure her shoulder would have been fine if she wasn't being treated so roughly. As if she sensed Delphine standing there, Cosima lifted her head and squinted at her. Delphine let herself in, offering Cosima a small smile.

“Not more tests,” she said with a sigh. Delphine laughed, then instantly felt bad for it.

“No, no more tests,” she replied gently. “I came to... see how you are.” She could see the confusion in Cosima's eyes, and again wondered why she cared so much about the well-being of someone who was meant to be her enemy. Delphine gestured at the chair in the middle of the room. “May I sit?” Cosima curled her legs up against her chest with a light wince and nodded. “I would ask how you are, but...” An apology lingered on the tip of her tongue. Cosima shrugged delicately.

“Hey,” she croaked, clearing her throat after. “Look, I know this might be really weird to ask considering everything, but... would you mind just, staying here for a bit? I promise I won't like, paint the walls with your blood or anything.” She looked so small and helpless tucked up in the corner, rubbing at her eyes. Delphine's heart cracked. “It's just that everything here smells like rotting corpses and that's the last thing I need right now, but you smell really nice. Just play catch with me or something. No dog jokes.”

“Yes,” Delphine said, even as the logical part of her mind screamed at her that it was a terrible idea. “Of course.” She wasn't sure playing catch with someone as injured as Cosima, but despite the occasional wince, she didn't seem bothered by moving. The two of them sat there, lobbing that ridiculous stress ball that Delphine hadn't touched since she'd gotten it back and forth across the cell, the silence between them far more comfortable than it had any right to be. _This is the enemy_ , Delphine told herself, frowning lightly. But Cosima didn't feel like an enemy. After a while, Delphine didn't know how long, Cosima sighed, spinning the stress ball between her fingertips before lightly tossing it back across the room.

“You know what I could really go for right now?” she said, easily catching Delphine's return toss. “A Netflix marathon and an ice cream binge.” Delphine laughed lightly.

“I remember ice cream,” she said. She snatched the ball out of the air despite a slightly wide throw.

“Did you ever have eskimo pies?” Cosima asked.

“Non.”

“Oh, man, you are _missing out_. They're seriously like, the best ice cream ever invented. Period. Can you actually eat or does it just make you really sick?” Delphine shrugged, quickly pushing her fingers through her hair before Cosima chucked the ball at her.

“I don't know. I have never tried to.” Cosima rubbed at her eyes again, holding the ball against her knee.

“Maybe tasting wouldn't hurt. Although I guess if you can't eat without getting sick that would be a bad thing.” Delphine managed a smile. It felt almost foreign on her face. She glanced at her watch, heart sinking when she realized the time. Fifteen minutes would have been far too long to spend in Cosima's cell even with a good reason to be there, let alone nearing two hours. She caught the ball, wanting to throw it back, but instead carefully set it back on the table.

“I need to go,” she said. “I've been here for too long already.” Cosima sighed and tipped her head back against the wall.

“Really? Only felt like twenty minutes tops.” Delphine's eyes darted to the security camera in the corner. She didn't relish having to explain her prolonged visit to Leekie should he bother to look at the tapes.

“I know,” she said, hoping Cosima understood, “but I really need to go.” She smoothly rose to her feet, straightening her lab coat and fixing her badge where it had twisted itself around. She was keying in the code to unlock the door when Cosima called out to her again.

“Hey.” Delphine looked over her shoulder. “Do you think maybe we could do this again tomorrow night? If I'm conscious, that is. I mean, obviously I don't know what's gonna happen but after today I've got a pretty good idea so what I'm trying to say is if I'm not dead would you come back and amuse me for a while?” Delphine chewed on her lip. Guilt crashed into her. There was a very good chance Cosima _would_ be dead by tomorrow night, especially if whatever poisons or brute force Leekie decided to employ didn't spark the shift he wanted so desperately.

“Yes,” she said, her voice cracking on the word. She cleared her throat. “Yes, of course. Good night, Cosima.” Cosima gave her a little wave and a weak smile, nestling her chin on her knee.

“Night,” she echoed quietly. Delphine's mind was made up before she'd gone more than a few feet down the hall. Cosima was a person, not an animal, with a condition that she had no control over, and still managed to keep her sense of humour and smile despite everything. Delphine refused to let Cosima be some lab rat, to be experimented on until she was nothing but a wisp, starved and broken.

The determination had settled firmly in her stomach by the time she arrived at her front door, masking her fear and uncertainty. What she was planning to do was most certainly a betrayal, but wouldn't it have been the same to leave Cosima to rot in a cell who's previous occupant had died horribly? _Yes_ , she told herself, opening her laptop and logging in. She had planning to do.

 


	6. The Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosima escapes, Sarah notices something awry, and Alison starts to lose it.

Cosima was still alive when Delphine went to see her the next night, but there were more bruises to add to her already extensive collection, and she was twitchy and irritable, her fangs prominent and her eyes more amber than brown. When Delphine opened the door she started growling, though the sounds ceased when she realized who it was. Delphine chewed on her lip, chest stabbing at seeing the state of her. She was close to a shift, and doing her damnedest not to let it happen. Delphine fiddled with the glasses in her hands. The prescription wasn't 100% accurate, but she had done what she could with the results she'd obtained from Cosima's sight test, and they would suit her purposes admirably. She crossed the room quickly and crouched by Cosima's bed.

“I brought you something,” she said by way of a traditional introduction, holding up the glasses with a small smile. “Not perfect, but I hope they help.”

“Oh, cool,” Cosima breathed, her posture relaxing. “Thank you.” Delphine unfolded the glasses, biting her lip, suddenly feeling short of breath despite not needing to breathe.

“May I?” she offered. Cosima tilted her head in an ironically dog-like manner, then carefully leaned forward. Delphine gently set the glasses on her face, fingers trailing along Cosima's jaw as she pulled her hands away. Cosima blinked, adjusting, then opened her mouth to say something that was lost as she saw Delphine clearly for the first time. Her cheeks flushed red under the motley of bruises that coloured one, and she cleared her throat. “Better?” Cosima nodded. “Good, you'll need them for your cover.”

“Cover? What cover?”

“I need you to listen to me and listen carefully,” she said in a low voice, holding Cosima's puzzled eyes. “In two hours that door is going to open, and you are going to leave this room, turn right, and take the lab coat and ID card in the room two doors down. Take the elevator at the end of the hall to the fourth floor, then the stairs the rest of the way down, and get away from here. Do you understand?” Cosima frowned at her.

“Well... yeah, but... why are you telling me this?” she asked, suspicion lacing her voice. “Why are you trying to get me out? Isn't it your job to keep me in?” Delphine sighed, shoving her hand through her hair.

“A gut feeling,” she replied, hoping the explanation would be good enough. “Please.” Cosima hesitated, then eventually, slowly, she nodded.

“Okay,” she said. Delphine bit back a sigh of relief and pushed to her feet. “Thank you.” With a stiff nod, Delphine turned away, letting herself out of the cell and quickly making her way back to the tunnels and the safety of her apartment. She had done what she could; it was in Cosima's hands now.

 

 _It's a trap_ , Cosima thought when the door slid open two hours after Delphine had left. _It's a trap_ , she thought as she slipped out of the door, a mass of aching muscles and bruised flesh, her white clothes stained brown with dried blood. _It's so a trap,_ as she padded down the hall and found the lab coat and ID card waiting for her in a small storeroom. The fabric smelled like Delphine, strong enough to mask Cosima's own distinctive scent from any vampires she might pass on her escape route. The paranoia stayed with her, but as she grew closer and closer to her goal, standing near the doors of the elevator ready to bolt if she needed to, hope started to overtake it. The hall on the fourth floor was clear, and smelled like human instead of vampire. Cosima sighed in relief; she'd be happy if she never had to subject herself to that scent again.

She flew down the stairs, only slowing her pace once when someone in a business suit walked past her, but they paid her no attention, and then freedom was within Cosima's grasp. She controlled her walk, trying not to limp, keeping it brisk and professional, her eyes on the doors and the barest hint of sunlight reflecting off of them, then stepped outside into the early dawn. It took a bit of wandering, but with some effort and a good amount of ignoring the few people that noticed the state of her clothes under the cover of the lab coat, Cosima figured out where she was, and where she was was close. Too close. _Oh, Sarah is going to be so pissed._ She patted the coat down, searching for money to catch a bus to the city limits and from there to the stop near her house, and found a twenty stashed deep in the inside breast pocket. She breathed a sigh of relief, but didn't relax until she was on the bus and leaving the city far behind, homeward bound.

 

Immediately after she shut and locked her front door, Cosima stripped off her filthy clothes and dumped them into a pile to be burned and padded through her house, making a beeline for the shower to wash off the blood and grime and feel like a human again. She was tired, too, exhausted, but there wasn't any time for her to rest, as much as she wanted to curl up under her blankets and sleep for a week. She gave her bed, large and inviting, a longing glance, and examined herself in the mirror stashed in the corner of her room. Her bruises were fading, although not quickly enough, and she could see the outline of her ribs poking faintly from under her skin. Three days of hardly any food had taken its toll on her. Cosima sighed, pushing her fingertips against the bags under her eyes, then found old, comfortable, inconspicuous clothes to wear for the drive over to Mrs. S'.

Before she left, she started a fire in the pit on her back porch and bundled her whites up to throw them in. A scent caught her nose as she squished them together in her hands; Delphine. Cosima stared down at the pile, then carefully extracted the lab coat and threw the pants and shirt into the fire before folding the coat neatly and carrying it back inside, stashing it under her bathroom sink. Satisfied, she grabbed her keys and left. The drive seemed to take forever, and Cosima's stomach was grumbling. She groaned, holding her hand against it while she waited for a light to change. The food they'd given her at DYAD had been slim, and tasted like shit besides. She needed a proper meal, maybe a hunt...

Angry voices raised at the edge of her vision as she parked her car across the street and got out with a wince. She ignored them, not overly concerned. Sarah had a temper, and her and Alison butted heads more often now that Beth wasn't around to mediate. Checking to make sure she wasn't going to meet a similar fate, Cosima jogged lightly across the street and went around back to let herself into the kitchen.

“-we're going now!”

“Cosima!” Cosima stilled, frozen in the doorway, blinking in shock.

“Uh, hi?” she offered. Sarah was before her in a flash, aggressive protectiveness written into her expression and in the stiffness of her posture. A dozen questions assaulted her, from Sarah and Alison both, the former grabbing her arm and leading her into the kitchen where the light was brighter and she could look Cosima over. Cosima gaped, jaw working and mouth opening as she tried to find a break to answer until Mrs. S' authoritarian shout broke the noise.

“Let her breathe,” the woman said, and pulled out a chair for Cosima to sit in. “Have some tea, and then you can tell us what happened.” Sarah huffed, leaning against the counter with her arms crossed over her chest, but held her tongue. Alison gave her a quick check over with the practised hands of a worried mother, then sat in the chair next to her. In the quiet that followed, Cosima heard the almost silent creak of Kira's bed in the room above as the child shifted during her after school nap. As soon as she got her tea, Sarah made to pounce again, but Siobhan held up a hand to silence her and sat across the table. “Now, tell us what happened, love.” Cosima recounted her time at the institute, watching as Sarah grew angrier and angrier until she eventually left the room, stalking up the stairs and into Kira's room, and was careful to keep from mentioning Delphine at all, in regards to her torture _and_ her escape. Siobhan was giving her that _look_ , the one that was normally directed at Sarah, eyes slightly narrowed in suspicion.

“And that's it, really. I saw an opening and I went for it.”

“Well,” Alison said, “I'm just glad you're okay.” She sighed, fixed her hair, and stood. “I'm going to check on Sarah.”

“Yeah,” Cosima said in reply, offering her a smile as she left. “I think I'm gonna head back. I'm starving.”

“Sit,” Siobhan said firmly when she started to stand. Confused and a bit guilty, Cosima sank back into her seat, folding her hands in front of her. “What really happened?”

“I told you what happened,” Cosima said slowly. “I figured out a way to get past the guards and I went for it.”

“In a place like that there is no chance of that large a lapse in security. Someone helped you, didn't they?” Cosima bit her tongue, but she couldn't help glancing away, and it was that that gave away her lie in the end. Siobhan sighed. “Just be careful, love. It's a dangerous thing you're getting yourself into.”

“I don't know what you're talking about,” Cosima mumbled. Siobhan rolled her eyes and in a voice that said she doubted Cosima very much, said,

“Of course not.” She waved Cosima off. “Go on, get. You look half starved.”

 

Something wasn't right. Sarah paused mid-step and sniffed the air. This was _her_ territory. Every time she went out hunting she made sure to mark, to keep her scent strong, but now there was something new and unfamiliar tainting the breeze. She growled softly. _Wolf_ , she thought, and suddenly her lust for deer and fox and rabbit was forgotten and she was on a different kind of hunt. There was another wolf in her territory, a stranger, a threat. Someone that could hurt her pack. Lone wolves were dangerous; unpredictable, often more wolf than man. Sarah would find this straggler and pick them off or chase them away. Except she couldn't. The scents were there, against the trunks of trees and bases of bushes, but there was no wolf, and the sun was quickly starting to rise. Frustration snapping at her heels, Sarah turned and ran back towards the house. She felt someone's eyes on her when she had changed and was pulling her clothes back on, but when she stopped to look and listen, there was nothing.

It happened again two days later when she was stomping her way around the block to try and work off the excess tension that not shifting left her with. A scruffy woman in dirty jeans and boots and an oversized jacket was curled up on a bench, watching her, and was still there fifteen minutes later when Sarah walked past for the fifth time. Sarah suppressed a growl when she heard the woman stand and the scuffle of her boots against the pavement, and when she turned the corner ducked into an alley. The woman looked momentarily puzzled, but kept on walking. A coincidence, she thought.

But then the woman was there again when she picked up Kira from school and took her to the park to play. It could have been nothing, she thought, watching out of the corner of her eye while she pushed Kira on the swings. It was a small community. It could have been nothing, but it felt like something, and no matter where Sarah went she felt like she was being watched, and no matter how many times she went out and marked her territory, the strange wolf's scent was always there.

 

For the fifth time in as many minutes, Alison regretted inviting Aynsley over to help her scrapbook. The desire to drive the scissors in her hand into her friend's neck was growing stronger by the second. Aysnley was irritatingly perceptive, and knowing Alison since college meant she picked up on her bad moods better than anyone save her pack mates did, Donnie included. Except Beth, Beth had always known. Alison's chest clenched and she jerked her scissors so hard she ruined the piece of cardstock she was cutting. Frustrated and close to tears, Alison threw them down and buried her face in her hands with a loud sigh.

“What's wrong, Ali?” Aynsley asked. “You can tell me.”

“No,” Alison said through her fingers. “I really can't.”

“It can't be that bad,” Aysnley prodded. Alison heard her step closer, and pushed down on the snarl that started to shake in her chest. She bit her lip, hoping it would help. “You know you can tell me anything, so come on. What's wrong?” Alison roughly shrugged off the hand on her shoulder, head snapping up.

“There are so many things wrong, stop asking so many _god damn questions_!” Aynsley paused, shock passing over her face, then she sighed and it was replaced with sympathy and pity, and Alison hated her for it.

“Is it Donnie? Is he cheating on you? You know I've told you a hundred times that you deserve someone better than a lazy lump like him.” Alison's lip quivered and before she could stop it she burst into tears, hiding her face in her arms to muffle her sobs. “Oh, Ali,” Aysnley said softly, rubbing her back. _It isn't Donnie!_ Alison wanted to yell. _It's Beth! Her name is Beth! It's always been Beth and now she's gone and I'm a_ monster! When her tears had dried, Alison stared down in disgust at the page she had ruined, and without a thought ripped it in half and threw it in the bin under the table. Aynsley offered to get wine, to which Alison empathetically agreed, and while her friend was fetching drinks and glasses, pulled out her suppression pills from where they were hidden in a locked drawer and slid one under her tongue. It would help, she thought, washing it down with a mouthful of wine and tipping up her glass. It always helped.

They finished their scrapbooking session without any further incident, but instead of going upstairs and getting into bed with her husband, Alison poured herself more wine and slouched against the sofa. The pills made her senses muffled, almost muted, and that was how Alison liked it. It probably wasn't a good idea for her to take more than one a day, but it couldn't _hurt_ her, really, could it?

The answer turned out to be a yes, although Alison thought the exact opposite. She took her pill when she woke up the next morning, drowsy and sluggish and sore from having fallen asleep on the sofa, with a growl rumbling in her chest. She had been dreaming about Beth; about hunting with her, killing with her, about how Beth could go from dead serious, wiping blood off her nose and mouth, to laughing a minute later when Alison yelled at her for how dirty she had gotten herself. Her and Sarah looked so much alike when they smiled, not that Sarah smiled much any more. Cosima always did, but her smiles were too open, too innocent. Beth and Sarah were hard, scarred by the life that they led.

Half asleep, Alison left the children under Donnie's supervision and drove to the grocery store, armed with her coupons and canvas bags and perfectly tidy list. Everything felt perfectly normal, or would have if it wasn't for the very irritating itch beneath her skin that was begging her to shift, until she reached the deli, and when she inhaled to sigh all she could smell was blood. She growled, loud and sudden. Several people in the vicinity turned to look at her, confused.

“Stomach,” Alison said with a forced laugh, quickly turning away... and smashing her cart into another woman's. Normally, Alison would have apologized, but the beast that lurked in the deepest pits of her soul lashed out, and Alison snapped like she was an animal. The woman stared at her, crossed between afraid and shocked, apologized, and hurried off. Her entire body shook as she checked her groceries out, trying to keep calm as she dealt with the finicky machine. She was struggling to keep her breathing steady as she strode out to her car, arms laden with bags that she almost dropped getting the back of the van open. Safe in her car, Alison let out a shuddering sigh. _Stupid,_ she told herself. _Idiot. What is wrong with you? Beth would never have let that happen._

 


	7. Unexpected Company

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosima’s escape is discovered, punishment is dealt out, and Delphine receives a surprise visitor.

Delphine hadn't relaxed since she'd left Cosima's cell. She hadn't gotten any of her work done, and had left the office early to pace around her home swirling a mix of wine and blood around in a glass. Worry gnawed at her chest as she gnawed at her nails, wishing, hoping, that Cosima had gotten out of the building. She watched the minutes tick by. In the quiet of her flat, she had no way to know what was going on in the main DYAD building, and going over to check in the middle of the day was far too suspicious. All she could do was wait until dusk and go in “early.” Her nerves had done nothing but grow. No one had contacted her, which meant that no one had noticed, or that Cosima's escape had been foiled and she'd been thrown back into her cell, and quite possibly punished for her actions.

Her feet took her towards the cell block, and a muffled crash when she passed the floor's security room stilled them. She stopped, frowning, and sniffed the air. Blood, and Leekie, and a security guard. She grinned. If Leekie was throwing things around, it meant Cosima was free. She pushed down the joy in her chest and fixed a concerned look onto her face, jerking the door open.

“What's happened?” she asked. Shards of ceramic littered the floor beneath a splatter of blood, slowly dripping down the white paint to pool on the tiles. Leekie whirled around, his face a mask of fury and his fangs exposed as he snarled. The guard standing next to him looked haggard and afraid. Delphine repressed a smirk; the sedatives she had slipped into his mug of coffee on her way out of the building had evidently done their job.

“This imbecile fell asleep at his station and the subject escaped!” Leekie shouted.

“I don't know what happened!” the man in question argued. “I've never fallen asleep on the job before!”

“Your ineptitude allowed the subject to escape,” Leekie hissed at him. He turned his attention back to Delphine. “Take him to Rachel; she'll deal with him. I need to check in with the recon teams and see if they've found any leads, but 324B21 escaped hours ago and no action was taken until I arrived, so the hope of recovering her is slim. Finish your pending projects while I prepare for any new subjects we receive today.” Delphine nodded in understanding and reached out, grabbing the guard's arm in a stone-like grip and yanking him out of the room.

“Hey!” he protested. “Watch it, that hurt!”

“You let a subject escape,” Delphine said, not bothering to hide the smug satisfaction in her voice. “You have to learn who's in charge.”

“Bitch,” the guard snarled. Delphine showed him her teeth in a wicked grin. Subdued, he let Delphine pull him into the elevator and ride it up several floors, and practically shove him down the hall to the office of Rachel Duncan, Leekie's _pet_. Delphine's jaw twitched in annoyance. He had never been a particularly good sire, but it was an insult that he would treat someone whose species he considered an enemy better than he treated her. She knocked on the door, her hand still around the guard's arm until a sharp, “Yes? Come in,” greeted her, then shoved him inside and shut the door behind her to wait.

 

Rachel scrunched up her nose at the smell that assaulted her when the door to her office opened. Over the years she had grown used to it, but that didn't make a fresh source any less vile, and this man she had never met before. Her sharp eyes darted across his uniform, over the badge pinned to his chest identifying him as Thomas Whitley, lips turned down in a scowl that she had had perfected since her birth.

“I'll assume that it's correct to say you're the reason 324B21 is no longer in our facility?” she asked icily, straightening her back in her chair and folding her hands before her.

"Spare me the fucking lecture,” Whitley spat, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms over his chest. It was a defensive stance; he was afraid, even if he didn't want to show it. “If you're going to fire me just do it." Rachel narrowed her gaze.

“You do not seem to understand the gravity of the situation. You let a subject escape. A subject who knows where and who we are and what we do."

"Well, what do you expect me to do about it now? Dog Bitch is gone, and I'm clearly out of work, so if you need to get to any debrief shit, just get it over with." Rachel's eyes flashed, a low growl filling the room. Whitley shifted his stance, clearly unsettled.

“Is there a problem, Mr. Whitley?” Rachel asked calmly as she slowly got to her feet.

“Yeah, there's a fucking problem. I'm about to be fired by a fucking dog! Do you know how hard it is for a vamp to get work? At least you dogs are human most of the time.” As he spoke, Rachel strode across the room, locking the door to her office with a click that was lost under his rantings. Being convinced he was about to lose his job apparently had opened the floodgates for everything negative he had to say about DYAD and the administration and the wolves that they kept.

“Very well,” she said firmly, interrupting his rant. “You want to 'get it over with.' Shall we?”

“Why did you lock the door?” Whitley asked carefully. Rachel licked her lips, and with every ounce of the control she had spent her childhood having drilled into her, shifted and lunged, her jaws closing around Whitley's neck. Blood rushed into her mouth, warm and sweet, and spurted across the wall and floor as she jerked her head and ripped the vampire's throat out. Human again a moment later, she scowled down at the corpse and the torn remains of her clothes, and stepped delicately around the body to her desk, finger pressing the intercom button down.

“I need a cleaning crew and a change of clothes sent to my office immediately,” she said.

“Yes, Miss Duncan,” came the crackled reply. Rachel lifted her hand, sighing, and with one last look at the mess stepped into the adjoining bathroom to wash off her face. She'd been rather fond of that blouse. Bloody vampires.

 

Cosima let her joint slowly fizzle down, holding it lightly between two fingers without a care for the cold ash that dropped almost silently onto the carpet. In her other hand she had the lab coat Delphine had given her, bunched up and held to her face. The scent was fading, already faint even for senses as sharp as hers. It had barely been two days since she'd last seen the blonde, bearing the gifts of glasses that she still had in her night stand, and an escape plan that had likely saved Cosima's life. All she had was the coat, a barely there smell, and the image of a dazzling smile stuck in her brain, playing over and over again. _Damn, I miss her_ , she thought with a sigh. Not being kept in a cage, of course, with no privacy and subject to all those terrible tests, but Delphine herself, the woman who had broken every expectation about vampires Sarah had been telling her since they met. _I wish I could see her._

Except that she could. She could track her down while she still had a scent left to follow, and thank her properly for helping her escape. Of  _ course _ . Cosima stubbed out her joint and shot off the bed and fumbled for her shoes, pulling them on and giving herself a quick check over in the mirror, smoothing her hands down her sweater and skirt. She spritzed herself with perfume to hide her scent, pausing before putting it down, then giving a last sptritz just to be sure. The smell was strong, but it would be enough, at least so she hoped. Grabbing the lab coat and her keys and bag, Cosima breezed out the door and down to her car.

_ This is a really bad idea, _ she thought when she was halfway there, waiting in light early morning traffic for the light to change.  _ Like super bad. _ But she wanted to see her, and if no one but Delphine knew she was there than what was the harm? The woman had let her out after all, she was hardly going to turn around and deliver Cosima right back into DYAD's clutches. 

The building loomed innocently above her, just the same as the ones that surrounded it. Cosima repressed a shiver. Maybe coming back really was a bad idea, no matter how much she wanted to see Delphine. She tilted her head back, staring at the bridges that connected the building to the one at its left, then after considering for a moment, entered the latter with the lab coat hugged to her chest. The lobby was empty save for a potted plant and a couple chairs. Cosima sniffed the coat, then sniffed the air, and grinned when she caught Delphine's familiar scent hiding under the rancid stink of the other vampires. Now she just had to get there.

With each floor she climbed, the scent grew stronger, until Cosima reached the 10 th and stepped out of the lift, following the scent down the hall like she had with the last three floors. She stopped outside of 10D and held her nose to the wood.  _ Here _ . Hoping the beating of her heart wouldn't give her away to any neighbours, Cosima knocked on the door.

Inside her apartment, Delphine started at the unexpected noise. She'd been lost in thought, head tipsy from the combination of wine and blood inside her glass. She had done a good thing letting Cosima go. She'd given her her life back, one that she could life to the fullest rather than spending her remaining days as nothing better than a lab rat. She set her glass down, waiting, and when the knock at her door came again, she slowly stood to answer, expecting one of her neighbours, or, God forbid, Leekie to be other other side. Her eyes widened. How hadn't she smelled... but she hadn't, all she smelled was perfume and drugs, which wasn't particularly uncommon when humans were playing guest.

“What are you doing here?” she hissed.

“Uh, hi,” Cosima said lamely. “I just... wanted to see you?” Delphine's nostrils flared as she sniffed the air.

“Are you  _ high _ ?”

“Yeah, a little, why? I'm still kind of sore and it helps with that, and I just thought I'd stop by and, oh!” She held up a white bundle. “I brought you your coat back, so are you gonna let me in or no-OT!” Delphine yanked her in by the collar of her coat, quickly shutting and locking the door behind them. Cosima straightened her collar and looked around appreciatively. “Nice house.”

“Thank you,” Delphine said, her voice still stiff with shock. Cosima spun around, holding out Delphine's spare lab coat.

“So, yeah, here's this,” she said, shrugging her own coat off her shoulders when Delphine had taken the bundle from her. “Seriously, though, I was thinking earlier about what you did for me, and well... I thought maybe we could be friends?”

“Cosima, you know we can't,” Delphine said, folding the lab coat neatly and setting it on the kitchen island to put away later. Cosima frowned lightly at her, settling on one of the bar stools with her coat draped over her lap.

“Why not?” she asked, as if the answer wasn't as obvious as why Delphine couldn't go out in the sunlight. She sniffed the air lightly, eyes falling on the wine glass Delphine had discarded on the edge of the counter when she opened the door. Delphine opened her mouth to protest, but Cosima beat her to it. “Just hear me out. I know we're supposed to be enemies and everything, but if we were really like that, then like, why did you help me? I mean, I know things could go really shitty if people like, find us out, but who says anyone is going to? I  _ liked _ spending time with you and no offence but I don't think anybody around here really cares what you do with your spare time. You all seem like a bunch of anti-social recluses to me, and I don't spend time with anyone outside my pack and this one guy in my microbiology class. So, we should be friends.”  _ I'm so dead, _ Delphine thought, snatching up her wine glass and downing what was left before walking around Cosima and the counter to pour herself more. As an afterthought, she fetched another glass down for Cosima as well, and handed it to her as she swiftly drained half of her own drink. Cosima watched her, hopeful, as she waited for a response. Delphine bit her lip. How could anyone ever say no to her? She sighed, and nodded.

“Oui, friends,” she said, and was rewarded with a splitting grin and a warm body plastered against her own. Delphine froze. Cosima had left her perfume soaked coat on the stool, and as close as she was, Delphine could smell her clearly, still earthy and alive. Her fangs throbbed. She frowned, ignoring them, and took a careful step back when Cosima let her go. There was nothing wrong with two lonely souls finding comfort in one another. Delphine watched Cosima make herself comfortable again, her body still buzzing from the hug. “You have a pack?” she asked with a sip of wine. Cosima stilled, the scent of fear faintly filling the air.

“Shit,” she said bluntly. “Uh, yeah, kind of, yeah, sometimes we-look I shouldn't have said that and you can't say anything, okay?”

“I won't,” Delphine swore, intrigued by the warm ball of happiness and wit and charm that had made the effort and taken the risk and tracked Delphine down to be her friend. “I promise. I'm just... curious.”

“Right,” Cosima said, her shoulders relaxing. She smiled easily. “Right, yeah, of course. There's no reason why we shouldn't both treat this as a learning opportunity, right? I mean, seriously, how often do you get to make friends with a werewolf?” Her laugh broke the tension still settled over them, and drew a tipsy giggle from Delphine as well. “So, uh, I don't mean to be rude so please don't get offended, but is there blood in this wine?”

“Merde,” Delphine muttered, offering a slightly embarrassed smile. “I forgot. I'm sorry.” Cosima waved her off.

“No, no, it's totally okay. I thought I smelled something, I totally don't mean to be rude or anything I just don't generally like... consume blood as a hobby.” Delphine laughed lightly, leaning forward on the counter and twisting her glass. “Not to say I wouldn't. Catch me close to a shift and I'd be all over it, even though this is human, I guess, isn't it? It's all the same in the end.” Delphine hummed, watching as Cosima sniffed at her drink then had a sip anyway and hummed with a small nod.

“So... your pack,” Delphine pried gently. Cosima smiled at her.

“If I tell you something, you have to tell me something in return, okay?” Delphine returned her smile, relaxing more and more by the second. The tension in her shoulders was almost completely gone.

“Deal,” she said.

“There's three of us,” Cosima started. “Sarah, Alison, and me. We meet up at the full moon every month to hunt. Your turn.”

“D'accord,” Delphine agreed. She shifted in her seat, propping her chin up in her hand. “What would you like to know?”

“Everything,” Cosima said with a grin, then blushed immediately after and looked away. “Uh, I mean...” Her hand spun circles in the air as she stalled for time. “How long have you been like, you know. A vamp.”

“Seven years,” Delphine replied. She felt a twinge of sadness and anger at the memory, but pushed it aside. It was hardly the time to feel bitter about the life that had been stolen from her.. “I was doing my doctorate when I was sired.”

“Who did it?” Cosima asked quietly.

“Leekie,” she replied, staring down into the remains of her drink. She raised a hand, touching it to the faint marks on her neck. “I hated it. I hated  _ him _ for it. So many younger vampires revel in it. They see it as a chance to indulge in every bad impulse they've ever had, but I never wanted it. I didn't want to be a monster.” The bitterness she'd fought poisoned her voice. Cosima watched her carefully, then slowly reached across the counter and laid her hand over Delphine's, hot against her icy skin. She smiled gently.

“You should hear about werewolf puberty, then. That was an... experience, to put it lightly.”

“Oh? How so?”

“Well, like, all the other girls were dealing with their periods and I was alternating between wanting to screw them all and wanting to rip out the throat of the girls with their periods.” Delphine laughed so abruptly that she startled herself, holding a hand over her mouth. It only occurred to her what Cosima had really said when she was asking for blood free wine.

 


	8. Favourite Vampire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alison tries to have a relaxing day, and Delphine reveals part of her past.

Alison walked in circles around the basement, wearing ruts in the carpets as she weaved around the sofa and chewed on the tips of her fingers. Yesterday had been a nightmare, an absolute nightmare, and then Donnie had wanted sex and Alison had been more inclined to tear out his throat than let him touch her and had almost growled at him as well. And where the hell was Felix!? As if her desperation had summoned him, Sarah's foster brother strode through the door. Alison firmly locked the door behind him as he pulled his scarf from around his neck.

“Okay,” he started, “I got your panicky texts, so are you gonna tell me what's wrong?”

“ _ I growled at someone in the supermarket I'm a monster _ !” Alison rushed out and threw herself at him, hiding her face against his chest. He tutted at her and rubbed her back.

“Sweetie, no,” he said softly, giving her a squeeze and guiding her over to the couch and sitting her down. He took her hands in his and smiled at her. “You're not a monster. Sarah growls at people all the time.”

“But I'm not  _ Sarah _ ,” Alison whined, reclaiming one of her hands to wipe tears from her eyes before they could fall and ruin her make up. “Beth would never,  _ ever _ have let herself lose control like that. Not ever.”

“You're not Beth, either,” Felix said softly. Alison's breath caught in her throat. The same sharp pain she felt whenever she thought about Beth or heard her name stabbed at her chest. She wasn't Beth. Beth had been funny and happy and playful, and never let her condition bother her. Alison was just a shadow.

“I don't know what to do, Felix,” she whispered, pouting and trying her hardest not to cry again.

“You know, it's not entirely a bad thing,” Felix replied. “I know you're not as... enthusiastic about all of this as Sarah is, but maybe a mid month shift would do you some good. It'll knock off some stress, get you out in nature... Just a short hunt, nothing major. Get rid of Donnie and I'll watch the kids for you.”

“Really?” Alison asked.

“Yeah, of course,” Felix replied. He squeezed her fingers and smiled. Alison dabbed at her eyes again and scooted closer so she could put her head on his chest. For being so lanky, all skinny limbs and sharp angles, he was more comfortable than Donnie was, although he was no Beth. But he was her friend. He'd know what was best. When she nodded off a few minutes later, Felix sighed and patted her shoulder, and hoped that his back wouldn't hurt from being half bent against the arm of the sofa.

Have a bath, Felix told her before he left, complaining under his breath about how spending too long in suburbia was making his skin break out, so Alison took his advice to heart the next morning when she woke up after a sleep plagued by nightmares, with Donnie already gone, and the house abnormally quiet. It was a golden opportunity for her to use her new wine glass holder as well. She locked the bathroom door behind her, just to be sure, and pulled out her scented candles and bath salts while the tub filled with lukewarm water, and poured herself a glass of her favourite wine.

With a sigh, she lowered herself into the tub and closed her eyes. The bottom was slightly gritty with salts that hadn't dissolved, rolling beneath Alison's feet like grains of sand. She adjusted the towel behind her head, inhaled deeply, and relaxed her shoulders with a sigh. Peace, that was what she needed. A morning of self-pampering and relaxation to calm her wolf side, and with Donnie around to watch the kids, she wouldn't have to worry about them getting into trouble. When her throat begged for a drink, all she had to do was pull her glass away from the suction cup backed holder. She smile to herself. It had been an excellent impulse by.

She thought she was in the clear, but no more than ten minutes after she had finally settled (almost asleep), a loud knock startled her. Her jaw tightened in annoyance, a low growl stretching in her chest.

“Alison?” Donnie called through the door. “I'm going to Bill's to watch the game.” Alison sighed, glaring up at the ceiling.

“Can't you just watch it here?” she called back.

“All the guys are gonna be there,” Donnie replied, close to whining. Alison rolled her eyes.

“Fine, go, but make sure Gemma and Oscar are taken care of before you do!”

“Yeah, yeah. See you tonight.” The floor creaked under his feet as he walked away. It was fine, Alison thought as she relaxed again. Five minutes later one of the children thudded up the stairs crying, and Alison pinched the bridge of her nose. _There's never any peace in this house._

“Mommy!” Gemma sobbed. “Oscar changed the TV to play video games and when I tried to change it back he pushed me!”

“Tell Oscar to apologize and he can play video games after lunch, okay, sweetie? I'll be right out.”

“Okay,” Gemma mumbled. So much for a morning to herself. Alison drained her wine glass and drained the tub, and set about making herself presentable.

 

Coated in perfume again, Cosima waited patiently for Delphine to answer the door, the brown bag tucked under holding a bottle of wine to compensate for the full two she had helped the blonde drink over the past few days. She had a smile ready when the door swung open and Delphine quickly ushered her inside. As always, she felt safer when the door shut behind her. The chances of someone barging into Delphine's apartment were highly unlikely, even if they did smell a wolf. Sarah had told her once that some of the older, crueller vampires kept them as pets. She didn't like to think too much about that, especially with Delphine biting her lip and smiling and looking thoroughly gorgeous.

“I brought wine,” she announced, holding the bottle up. Delphine gestured to the fridge from where she was bent over clearing papers off the sofa for them to both sit. Cosima hooked her fingers around the handle and pulled, and paused when a familiar scent filled the air. She ducked and peered into the back of the fridge, then straightened back up so suddenly she almost hit the back of her head.

“What?” Delphine asked, catching the happy, almost disbelieving look on Cosima's face.

“Is this steak for me?” Delphine glanced away, embarrassment shining in her eyes even if it didn't show on her face.

“You looked hungry the other day,” she offered as an explanation.

“So you went to a grocery store, a human grocery store, and got steak?”

“....yes.” Cosima grinned so wide her cheeks started to hurt.

“You're the best, seriously,” she said. “Like, the best vampire friend a werewolf girl could ever ask for.” Delphine laughed sharply and dropped a stack of files onto the coffee table.

“It sounds like some terrible young adult novel that uses our kind as a metaphor for racism when you say it like that,” she replied, brushing her palms against her jeans and joining Cosima by the counter, uncorking the half empty bottle of wine on the counter and getting down glasses for them both. Cosima slipped her own into the fridge and closed the door, slipping out of her coat.

“Who cares? You bought me steak, you're my favourite.”

“Your favourite vampire?” Delphine asked with a hint of amusement. Cosima's nostrils twitched at the scent of the blood Delphine dipped into her own wine.

“My favourite everything,” she said, blushing lightly and hiding it by pressing her glass against her cheek. “I like food,” she continued quickly. “It keeps the hunger at bay. I mean, obviously it keeps hunger at bay, but I mean it keeps _the_ hunger at bay. Like, keeps me wanting to shift. Drugs help, too.” Delphine hummed in understanding. Cosima followed her around the island towards the sofa, leaving her coat folded over one of the bar stools.

“I have only ever smoked cigarettes,” the blonde said, offering Cosima a seat with a sweep of her hand and settling on the opposite end.

“I could fix that,” Cosima said with a grin. Delphine smiled at her, but despite Cosima's company and despite the cheerful nature of their conversation, there was an underlying sadness in her eyes that dulled them when they could have been so much brighter.

“I smoked so much during my doctorate,” Delphine said. “There's no point in it now. It doesn't... _do_ anything any more, but sometimes I still like to feel the burn in my lungs.” Cosima's chest clenched. She reached across the space between them to where Delphine's hand rested on the sofa and squeezed it gently like she had that first day, letting her touch linger for a few seconds and her fingers drag when she withdrew it. She wished she had brought some weed with the wine. She glanced at the files on the table, looking for a way to change the subject. Curious, she pointed at them with her glass.

“What are those for?” Delphine hummed, then lightly shook her head and followed Cosima's finger.

“Oh. A project I'm working on. Don't worry, it's nothing to do with werewolves.”

“Is it like, super top secret?” Cosima asked. Delphine laughed softly and shook her head again.

“No, no, nothing like that,” she said, pulling her legs up onto the couch and swinging them under her body. “It's for me. Well, us, I suppose. My kind. We have so many limitations...” she sighed and shook her head. “We've been working on a remedy of sorts to allow us exposure to direct sunlight without bursting into flame.”

“Have you had any success?” Cosima asked, genuinely curious. She only knew what Sarah told her, what pop culture told her, and so many things about her own species were wrong, she could only conclude it was the same for Delphine.

“Some.” Delphine stood, her glass empty, and held out her hand for Cosima's. “More?”

“Please,” Cosima replied, handing it over. She twisted around to stretch her arm across the back of the couch, watching Delphine move across the floor. She dumped the dregs into the sink and filled both the glasses almost to the rim, then spun on her heel to open the fridge and pull a fresh bag of blood out. “Do you always drink from bags?” Cosima asked. Delphine glanced up, easily ripping a corner off.

“Yes,” she replied.

“Why?” Delphine's body stilled, her eyes focused on the counter top, on the blood steadily dripping into her glass. Cosima immediately regretted asking, or at least being so tactless about it. Sarah had always said that vampires only used blood bags as a back up, that they relished going out and feeding off innocent people, not caring if they killed their victim in the process. _Shouldn't have said that, Cos_ , she thought, and blurted out an apology. Delphine glanced up, then tied the bag off and put it away.

“After Leekie turned me, I thought I could keep my old life,” she said carefully, her voice quiet. She wouldn't meet Cosima's eyes, even when she brought herself and the wine glasses back to the sofa and handed Cosima's over. She curled into herself, holding her drink against her chest and staring across the table at the blank television set. “I told him that I didn't want him around, to get out of my life, and he told me to find him when I realized he was right about me, about our species. I tried very hard not to, but eventually it was too much, and the first time I went out, the only time, I lost control, and someone died because of it. A friend of mine.” She sighed and shoved a hand through her hair. “I called Leekie, and he cleaned up the mess I made, and said everything but 'I told you so' although he certainly implied it. I have only drank from blood bags since.” Cosima slumped against the sofa. She wanted to reach out and hug Delphine and tell her thank you for sharing such a personal story, but it felt wrong when all she had done was make the blonde relive a terrible memory. Instead, she let out a controlled, steady sigh and said,

“I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked.” Delphine finally looked at her, eyes glossed with pain.

“No, no, it's all right. I wouldn't have told you if I didn't want to.” She paused, holding Cosima's gaze, rolling her lip between her teeth. Cosima's eyes flicked to it, her heart fluttering. “I trust you.”

“Yeah?” Cosima breathed, inching closer. Delphine nodded, her stare never wavering. Slowly, Cosima set her glass on the table and shuffled over the rest of the way until her knees hit Delphine's thigh, and carefully wrapped her arms around the blonde's neck. “Dummy,” she said fondly, closing her eyes and inhaling deeply everything that was Delphine, from the faint breeze of her perfume to the smell of her shampoo. “You're also really cold.” Delphine laughed into her ear.

“Yes, being dead has that effect.”

“I don't mind,” Cosima said, and even though she reluctantly broke the embrace, she stayed sitting against Delphine's side the entire night.

 


	9. Scientific Fascination

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The white wolf grows closer, and Delphine finds herself facing down temptation.

“I think I'm going crazy,” Sarah mumbled against the kitchen table. She had collapsed into a chair the second she'd gotten back from her hunt, exhausted and covered in dirt and sweat. That damn wolf was around again, pissing over Sarah's marks, stalking her while she roamed the woods, and no matter how viciously Sarah chased after her, she might as well have been a bloody ghost. If it wasn't for the scent, Sarah would have been convinced that she was just seeing things. To top it all off, that scrawny woman was still following her around with that stupid oversized coat that smelled like low tide.

“You're not going crazy,” Siobhan said. The table jumped lightly as she set a mug near Sarah's head. “I've been smelling something fishy, too.”

“Literally,” Sarah grumbled, lifting her head just enough for her to get her lips around the edge of her mug. “Will you go with me to look tomorrow? Maybe two noses will be better than one, yeah?” Siobhan sighed, and Sarah almost regretting asking. She kept her shifts to a minimum, each one taking more of a toll than the last, and Sarah hated causing her foster mother any pain, but she was growing concerned for Kira's safety, and this strange wolf sniffing around _her_ territory was grounds for murder in her book.

In the end, Siobhan agreed, and with Felix over to keep watch on Kira when they were gone, mother and daughter walked to the woods with one bag to share between the two of them, and made the shift. Siobhan was almost as large as Sarah, grizzled and shaggy, with grey peppering her thick fur. For once, Sarah let someone else take the lead, padding after her foster mother as they visited each place the strange wolf had marked, and re-marked them again, and tried to pick up a trail to follow. All night they searched, following one lead only to find it lead to nothing, or tracks in the dirt and mud that vanished into a stream along with the scent. All night they searched, and again they found _nothing_.

“I am going crazy,” she said when they were dressing. “I keep seeing this woman everywhere, and I can't catch her. She's like a ghost!”

“We'll find her, Sarah,” Siobhan reassured her. “Don't you worry.”

It was made worse two days later, when Sarah returned from seeing Felix and found Kira drawing a familiar face in the living room. Immediately on alert, Sarah crossed to her daughter, keeping the growl in her chest muffled to keep from alerting the girl. She crouched next to her, smoothed her hair down, and kissed the top of her head.

“Who's that?” she asked as casually as she could manage. Drawn by her anxiety, Siobhan lingered in the doorway, watching.

“I don't know, but I see her all the time when I'm at school,” Kira replied, sounding not at all bothered by a strange woman stalking her. “She smiles at me and waves. She looks like you, Mummy, just like Aunt Alison and Aunt Cosima. Sarah's head snapped up, meeting Siobhan's concerned gaze with one of shock and fear. She knew they were both thinking the same thing; _this is getting too close to home. I need to find this wolf and I need to kill her._ She managed to reign in her anger until Kira had been sent up to bed, and was about to stalk out of the house to kill everything and anything in the woods that wasn't supposed to be there when Siobhan grabbed her arm and led her back into the house.

“I'll keep watch, love,” she said firmly, nudging Sarah towards the stairs. “Go on.” The look in Siobhan's eyes left no room for argument, so, grumbling under her breath and pushing away the shift she could feel threatening to start, Sarah climbed the stairs and let herself into Kira's bedroom, stretching out on the edge of the bed with one arm thrown over her daughter's small body.

 

Delphine could smell her before she even stepped out of the elevator. All that perfume did a good job of masking the normally unpleasant dog scent (although Delphine missed the pleasing form it took in her case), but it also was making the entire floor think she was keeping a hooker. They could talk all they wanted, though. If it kept the neighbours from knowing Delphine was almost constantly in the company of a werewolf, she could care less if the musk announced Cosima's presence. Delphine let her in before she even had a chance to knock on the door, already prepared with glasses of wine for them both, and the living area cleared of all her work papers.

Cosima shrugged out of her coat, the sleeveless nature of her top leaving the flexing of her arms and shoulders visible to Delphine's wandering eyes, and hanged it up next to Delphine's. She fished a small bag out of the pocket and held it up with a light shake and a mischievous gaze, smiling with her tongue pressed to her teeth. Delphine knew what it was without having to ask, and playfully rolled her eyes. Cosima lightly shoved her shoulder on her way past, and as always, her touch burned in a way that had nothing to do with the difference in their respective body temperatures.

Delphine watched Cosima roll a joint with expert fingers, thankful that she had lost the ability to blush when her tongue darted out to lick the paper. Her lighter sparked, filling the area around them with the scent of lighter fluid and pot. The joint crackled softly as Cosima pulled on it, and blew smoke out her nose with a content sigh before handing it to Delphine.

“Thank Christ for this stuff,” she said. “Too bad Sarah doesn't smoke it. Got me through puberty without killing anyone.” The smoke singed Delphine's lungs in a delicious way, curling around her dead organs, seeping into her brain.

“Did Sarah?” she asked, handing the joint back. “Kill anyone, I mean.”

“Oh, yeah, totally. We don't really talk about it, though. It's why she moved here.” She paused for a drag, and continued talking even as smoke fell from her mouth. “She's just, like, more wolf than the rest of us.”

“Really? Fascinating...”

“You sound like a scientist,” Cosima giggled.

“I am a scientist,” Delphine clarified. She relaxed into the sofa, letting her fingers brush against Cosima's. Her head was already feeling fuzzy. It must have been strong. Usually Delphine couldn't get a high unless she ingested it directly via blood. She drank wine to hide the taste of her vice, more than anything else. Absently, she wondered if Cosima had the same problem.

“Right, yeah, I know, I meant like, you really sounded like one then. All interested and stuff.”

“I _am_ interested,” Delphine said. “Are you the same way she is?” Cosima shook her head.

“No way. I don't _hate_ it, but like... she kind of revels in it. It's like the only time she feels free. Alison hates it, though. She just wants more than anything to be normal. It's kind of sad, really. She's the one who started us up on the pills. I'm actually a bit worried about her overdosing.”

“Pills?” Delphine asked. Had Cosima gotten closer or had Delphine moved? She pulled on her joint, tipping her head back to blow rings out of her mouth. Delphine's eyes fell on her neck, on the faint thump of her pulse beneath her skin. Delphine could hear it, could smell it under the stench of drugs, could see the almost invisible quiver of the veins beneath her flesh.

“Yeah, they're like, birth control except for werewolves. The full moon being the equivalent of a period.” Delphine hummed. Finally, Cosima turned her head, and although it was soft, Delphine heard the way her breath hitched. “Stop staring at me like I'm a piece of meat,” she said with a breathy laugh.

“You are a piece of meat,” Delphine said, her voice low. Her teeth were throbbing, threatening to grow. She fought it, but with the drugs fogging her mind it was difficult.

“I'm a werewolf,” Cosima replied. “That's like, a rotten piece of meat to you.” She shoved Delphine's arm playfully. “Go get a blood bag, loser.” Delphine slowly pulled back, standing. _I have never wanted to sink my teeth into anything more_ , she thought, as she removed herself and her almost empty wine glass to the kitchen, filling it with more blood than drink. _Rotten meat or no._ She settled back next to Cosima and took a sip, licking her lip where the blood stained her skin. When she raised her glass again a few seconds later, trying to satisfy the burning in her throat, her teeth clacked sharply against the edge.

“Merde,” she muttered, willing her teeth to shrink back to normal size. The swear drew Cosima's attention.

“Oh, _cool_ ,” the brunette said, setting her glass down and holding Delphine's face and suddenly she was far too close. Delphine's eyes flicked down. It would be so easy. Cosima may have been strong, but Delphine was stronger, at least while Cosima wasn't a wolf, and trusted her. Delphine could drain her in seconds, especially if she tasted as good as she smelled... _No, she is the best friend you have had since this curse was forced on you!_ She was just so _hungry_ , and not even her drink provoked any desire. Cosima prodding at her teeth certainly wasn't helping.

“Cosima-” she mumbled around the fingers at her mouth.

“I've never seen any up close before, this is awesome!”

“No, thosh are reawy sensitive, stop.” Each brush of skin against her fangs sent a jolt through her, making it harder and harder to keep from turning her head and biting, or from pinning Cosima down to the sofa and bleeding her dry. Or from pressing her face to Cosima's neck and breathing in forever. It was an odd position to be in, one she'd never felt before. She couldn't be sure which she wanted more; to hug Cosima or sink her teeth in. She cleared her throat pointedly and pulled her head back. “Stop.”

“But this is fascinating!” Cosima argued, but let her hands fall away.

“Now who sounds like a scientist?” Delphine countered. Cosima grinned widely while Delphine rapidly drained her entire glass. She licked her lips and apologized.

“You just got vampire munchies,” Cosima said, and started to laugh, and then Delphine was laughing too, and she hadn't the slightest idea why, but Cosima was laughing and it was one of the most glorious sounds Delphine had ever heard, happy and loud and carefree and beautiful. Her hand found Cosima's arm, laughing so hard that she would have cried if she'd been able. She couldn't remember the last time she'd laughed so openly. Her ribs and stomach hurt from the force of it. Cosima leaned away to put her glass down and ended up toppling backwards, taking Delphine with her, and Delphine didn't care.

It wasn't until their amusement died down that Delphine realized how close they were, heavy breaths mixing in the small space between them. Delphine could feel her fangs again, yawning in her mouth, thirsty, but this time it wasn't hunger that had drawn them. Cosima's eyes flicked from Delphine's own down to her mouth and back again, gaze dark. _I need to move_ , Delphine thought, shifting her weight closer instead. Her chest was tight with need. _I need to move before I bite_. Cosima licked her lip. Delphine mirrored her, catching one of her fangs with a wince that snapped her out of their hypnotic limbo. She shot up quickly, squishing herself against the arm of the sofa.

“Shall we watch something?” she asked, and ignored how disappointed Cosima's answering “yeah” sounded.

 


	10. The Beast of Bailey Downs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Delphine breaks a vow, Cosima fights the beast inside, and tragedy strikes in Bailey Downs.

She left with a tight hug, one that lingered, and Delphine had to hold her breath with her eyes screwed shut. Her stomach twisted in fear. The second the door shut, Delphine wrenched open the door to her fridge and systematically drank every drop of blood she kept inside straight from the bag. She had more of course, the freezer was full of nothing but that and wine, but it would take longer than she wanted to thaw enough to heat it up, and she had a sinking feeling that it would do nothing for the burning in her throat and the ache that made her teeth throb. She felt like a monster for it, but in her gut Delphine knew what she had to do. For Cosima. For their friendship. She couldn't risk hurting the only friend she had known since Leekie had turned her, even if the thought disgusted her. She grabbed her coat and left.

She had never had any trouble picking up men, and being a vampire only made everything easier. She didn't know why (Leekie had never bothered to explain, just like so many other things), but they practically fell on her. Women stared, too, eyes full of jealousy, envy... lust. The music was loud to Delphine's sensitive ears, but it was all for the best. The less she was able to think about what she had to do the better. The less she was aware of the vicious burn in her throat the better. She checked her coat at the door and lost herself in the mass of undulating bodies. She could smell it all: alcohol, sweat, perfume, sex and drugs. Blood. _Men are easy_ , she thought bitterly. _Flash some skin and kiss their neck and they're yours._ She had no trouble finding someone, and even less luring him away from the crowd with teasing touches and lingering looks and kisses. Her hand on his thigh during the cab ride back only helped.

They crashed inside. Delphine pulled on his lips with her teeth, silent when he laughed breathlessly and told her to slow down, struggling with getting her clothes off and his pants undone, but Delphine didn't want to slow down. She wanted her hunger sated. She wanted the thoughts of Cosima's blood filling her mouth to evaporate. He tried to pull her to the bedroom, but she shoved him down on the couch and nearly broke the zipper on his pants. The sofa creaked beneath them, and the stitching groaned under the force of her fingers curled around the back. She rolled her hips, riding him so hard she feared for a split second that the couch would buckle beneath them. She waited, biding her time, then finally, when his head was tipped back in ecstasy and his blood was rushing through his veins, Delphine bared her fangs and struck.

Her groan was muffled against his flesh, saturated by body spray that tasted sharp on her tongue. She sucked greedily, but years of training left her with the self-control she needed to pull away when his movements started to slow and his breathing grew shallow. Blood dripped from the corner of her mouth when she whipped her head back, and with a final jerk his hips stilled. The fog lifted from Delphine's mind, her thirst fully sated for the first time in years, though the tension of being denied her own release remained. She lifted herself off him, fixing her clothes. He was asleep a second later. Delphine sighed, staring at him, feeling sick, and left him there while she padded into her bathroom to shower. _I'm a monster_ , she thought, the water washing away traces of his scent and his sweat, leaving her skin pink. She was a monster who needed humans to survive, to keep from withering away. When had blood bags stopped behind sufficient?

She knew the answer. She had known it the second she stepped in the same room as Cosima. They would never be enough again, not when she smelled so divine, when she was so warm and happy and trusting despite everything that had happened to her. If Delphine had been in her shoes she would have run, or she would have killed. Cosima was a better person than that, than all of them. She by no means deserved to be caused any further harm, especially not by a vampire.

Delphine checked in on her victim, still passed out on her sofa, then retreated to her bed. For hours she lay there, reassuring herself over and over that what she had done had been the right thing. She had saved Cosima, and she had saved herself in the process, even though she may as well have done the opposite. Close to dawn, she heard the man stir, and tightly squeezed her eyes shut, praying that he would just leave. He lingered, sighing. Under her breath, Delphine muttered to herself. She didn't realize she was holding her breath until the door clicked shut behind him. Delphine darted up to lock it, and stood with her brow pressed to the wood, listening to his footsteps recede. When they were gone and the elevator shuddered downwards, she sighed and turned on her heel. She was halfway back to her bedroom when the door opened again.

“Hey, Delphine! I found this thing last night online and I wanted to show-” _No_ , Delphine thought, frozen. The apartment still smelled like him, still smelled like sex. Slowly, she turned around. _How did she get in_? But she saw the spare key dangling from Cosima's fingers. Cosima's nostrils flared, her face flickering between confusion and a sharp pain that cracked Delphine's dead heart.

“I can explain,” Delphine started, but Cosima was already shaking her head. Her chin was trembling, breath catching. Delphine knew the signs, and even though Cosima was fighting valiantly, her eyes were already damp. _I'm a monster_. _This is the exact opposite of what was supposed to happen._

“No, you don't-you totally don't need to explain yourself to me, I mean, it's your life isn't it?” Cosima rambled. She laughed, but it was short and shaky and forced. “I'm not the boss of you. I just wanted to show you something stupid, but I should go, you're probably really tired.”

“Cosima...”

“I'll call you,” Cosima said sharply, dropping the key on the table by the door like it had burned her and leaving before Delphine could get another word out. She stared at the door, mouth hanging open, unable to process what had just happened, and why there was such a horrible dull ache in her chest, one that she hadn't felt since her first boyfriend had broken up with her almost twenty years before.

 

In the hallway, Cosima fought to keep her breathing steady. She didn't want Delphine to hear. She needed the blonde to think that she didn't care when she did. She didn't know when she'd started falling for the other woman, but it was clear as crystal now and _how could I have been so stupid?_ A sob broke free, and on her harried inhale, Cosima picked up that scent again; salty and disgusting and so terribly male. Rage mingled with the sting in her chest. She was the best tracker in the pack. If anyone could find him, especially with the trail so fresh, it was her. She suppressed the growl that threatened to pour from her mouth and took the elevator down, tightly clutching the strap of her laptop bag.

She wondered if he was handsome. He had to be to attract Delphine's attention. She wondered how good he had been in bed. The images that spilled into her mind fanned the fire in her chest. She slammed her fist against the side of the wall as the elevator came to a stop and the dent that it left made her feel a smidgen better, but it faded as soon as the doors dinged open and she could smell him again. _He likes monsters_ , she thought angrily, stalking out of the building, nostrils twitching. _I'll show him a fucking monster._

He hadn't gone far. Cosima imagined that after a night of wild sex with a gorgeous vampire his ability to move was somewhat impeded, and as she moved his scent grew stronger and stronger until it was all Cosima could smell and she wanted to gag. She could hear herself growling, feel her face scrunched in anger, her fangs stretching at her gums. _Shift_ , the beast in her chest urged. _Shift. Find him. Kill him. Rip him to shreds._ She pushed it down with effort, and jogged around the next corner, past an elderly woman power walking with dumb bells in her hands who smiled politely at Cosima. She only managed a weird, tight-lipped one in reply and pushed on. The park was nearby, thick with trees and fallen leaves. The way he was going would lead right past it, and his movements were slow and sluggish, like a wounded animal. Catching him would practically be child's play. Cosima snarled and cut across the street, closing the distance between them rapidly.

She ducked into the trees, keeping one eye on him as she dropped her bag too roughly on the ground, and started to yank at her clothes. Her fingers struggled with the buttons on her coat. Annoyed, Cosima growled and ripped at them. One shot off, lost in the undergrowth. She stared in the direction it had gone, half out of her coat, listening to her prey has he stumbled onto the path that wound through the park. The growl in her chest stopped abruptly. _What the hell am I doing?_ He looked drunk, pale and tired with one hand at his neck.

Cosima picked up her bag and slipped out of the cover of the trees. The branches of the bushes around her pulled lightly at her clothes, the wind rustling leaves off the grass.

“Hey,” she called out, easily catching up. “Are you okay?” He slowly turned around. “What happened?”

“I don't-I don't know, man. I was drinking, and there was this girl... I guess I blacked out. Fuck, my neck hurts, though. What time is it?” Cosima pulled her cell out of her pocket and dialled a cab with one hand, easily leading him over to a bench and practically shoving him into it. In silence she waited, arms crossed over her chest, waiting the five minutes it took for someone to respond, and stuffed a wad of bills into his hand. “Thanks,” the man said, but he looked suddenly uncertain. Afraid. _Good_ , Cosima thought, pushing him into the cab with a growl.

“Drink orange juice,” she said before slamming the door shut and turning sharply on her heel. She was weak. Weak for having let her emotions get a hold of her so easily. Weak for not having carried through with it. But he had had his hands all over her-no, Delphine wasn't hers. Delphine wasn't anyone's. She could screw who she wanted, feed off who she wanted. No one owned her. Cosima was no better than the assholes at DYAD for thinking that she did. She stalked out of the park towards the train station. She was such an idiot. Falling for a vampire couldn't have ended any way but badly and she had known it, but she'd let it happen anyway.

 

The scream alerted Alison scant seconds before the smell of blood and guts and rotting dog was carried to her on the wind. Her first fear was that something went horribly wrong and she shifted without realizing it (the previous night had been particularly difficult, so much so that she had locked herself in her craft room), but she quickly dismissed it, and watched as everyone else out fetching their mail and dragging their trash out rushed towards the sound. This was the third dog in a week, and the town had a long memory. They hadn't forgotten the Beast of Bailey Downs, and those families who had still lived in the area ten years ago knew the signs. The media certainly picked up on it. By the time the afternoon news rolled around the Beast was officially back. Alison called Sarah in a panic.

“Did you see the news!?” she shrieked as soon as Sarah picked up with a tired sounding “hello.” Sarah sighed. Alison could practically see her pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Yeah, I saw the news.”

“What do I do!”

“Just chill out, Ali.” That was the absolute last thing Alison was able to do. She paced around her craft room, chewing at her fingertips, her stomach all in knots.

“I can't just chill out,” she hissed. Sarah sighed again.

“Look, I'm sorting this out, okay? I'm taking care of it. Just don't do anything stupid.” _Taking care of what_? Alison thought. Sarah was obviously holding something back. She wanted to ask, no demand, that Sarah tell her, but Sarah was alpha. She wouldn't say anything unless she felt that Alison needed to know, regardless of what Alison thought. She made a noise of irritation which only drew yet another sigh in response, then threw up her hand.

“Fine, but if this puts my children in _any_ more danger...”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. Look, just stay put, okay?” She ended the call. Alison tossed her phone onto the table and ran her hand through her hair. She had been planning on following Felix's advice and going for a short hunt in the nearby woods that made up her half of Sarah's territory, but not now, not when there was another rogue wolf on the loose (and that was what it was, Alison knew, there was no way it could be anything different). She'd been seventeen with the last incident had happened, terrified at first that she'd been blacking out until the Fitzgerald sisters were exposed, at least to her and her kind. The hunters had come after, which had done nothing for Alison's paranoia, but by then one sister was already dead and the other had fled, their house burned. The subject was dreadfully taboo.

She picked up her phone again. Cosima needed to be informed, and from the sound of things she doubted Sarah had the frame of mind to think to call her.

 


	11. Hunger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosima finally goes back to Delphine’s.

Cosima's cell rang from her desk. She rolled her head to look at it, eyes half-lidded. It wasn't Delphine, she could tell by the ringtone. She should answer it. Usually the pack only communicated with texts. Calls were saved when there was urgent news, but Cosima couldn't bring herself to care. She let the call ring out and took a long, hard drag off the joint between her fingers. The smoke swirled around in her lungs until she couldn't hold her breath any more, and it wooshed out of her mouth and nose, followed by a light cough. Screw Alison and Sarah both. She didn't have the patience, not for Sarah's gruff, demanding “do as I say not as I do” attitude and Alison's rapidly increasing stress and paranoia. She lived so far from the two of them for a damn good reason.

Her phone didn't ring again. Eventually, long after her joint was finished, Cosima rolled out of bed and got her shoes and coat. The weed made her hungry, and the only thing she wanted was the one thing she didn't have. Purposefully leaving her phone behind, she slipped out of her apartment and bundled up against the chilly air on her way down to the first floor. She wondered why Delphine hadn't called. She'd expected her to, but when she thought about their last meeting she had inadvertently made it clear that she didn't want to hear from the other woman. Part of her regretted it. She hated it. She didn't want to care. She wasn't supposed to. Delphine was a vampire, her enemy. Her company had trapped her and tortured her and killed God knows how many of her kind. It was all wrong.

Cosima scuffed her feet as she walked, hands shoved into her coat, staring at the ground in front of her. Whatever reservations Delphine said she had about feeding off humans had either been a lie, or easily forgotten. It was only natural, Cosima mused bitterly, her lips twisting into a scowl. She was probably living it up now. She probably didn't care that some _wolf_ was sulking about, nursing a broken heart that she wasn't supposed to have. She couldn't even muster up a smile for the cashier, just handed over her money and took her change and slumped back home to eat the entire box.

 

How long had it been since she properly left her bed? It could have been hours, days, weeks. Her work sat in a scattered pile on the floor where she had thrown it in frustration, a blood bag sat unopened on her night stand. She had thought she was doing the right thing by bringing someone else home. All she had wanted to do was protect Cosima, but in the end she had hurt her more deeply than any risk of feeding could have. She felt every inch the monster culture said she was. _Cosima will never want to hear from me again_ , she thought, and rolled over, further tangling herself in her blankets. She had waited, waited for a text, for a call. Every ding of the elevator raised her heart with hope, but it was only her neighbours, never Cosima. She had said she would call, but what if that had been a lie?

She didn't sleep, but she dozed, and she dreamed that nothing had happened and Cosima was there with her laptop, showing her whatever it was she had found so outrageously funny that it needed to be shown in person. When she drifted back into wakefulness, Cosima was never there. She had handled everything the wrong way. All these budding feelings she hadn't felt since she was a teenager, multiplied tenfold, and she had dealt with them horribly, and now Cosima was lost forever.

Delphine ran her tongue over dry lips, and winced when it caught on one of her fangs. They were prominent, sharp. She hadn't eaten. With a sigh, she sat up, running her hand through her hair and swinging her legs out of bed. She took the old blood bag with her into the kitchen, sticking it in the freezer and pulling a fresh one from the fridge. She dripped it into a glass, pointlessly checking her phone. There was nothing, of course. No matter how many times she checked it there was nothing. She sighed, and the scent of blood tickled at her nose. Her memories crashed into her again. The glass fell from her hand and smashed in the sink. Delphine stared at the remains with blank eyes. What little appetite she had drained away as she turned her back and retreated to her bedroom.

Another day passed. No one from the lab called her in. Her files remained on the floor. A spot of blood had seeped into the wood of her side table from the top of the blood bag and stained. She was tired of waiting. She needed to know whether Cosima still wanted to be in her life or not. If she didn't, then so be it, but if she did, Delphine was going to do everything in her power to atone for having messed everything up. She reached for her phone.

 

Cosima knew it was Delphine without having to look, her phone's familiar chirp alerting her to a waiting text. She was tempted to ignore it, but she was tired of being alone with no one she could really talk to. She let her pen fall from her fingers and sighed. She couldn't focus on her work anyway, there was no point trying. There were other texts waiting for her, ones that she'd ignored, and the missed call from the day before. Four of them were from Alison that Cosima only barely glanced over, and one from Sarah telling her to “reply to Alison, you know how she worries.” Delphine's was the one that drew Cosima's reluctant attention. _I need to speak to you, please come over._

**Okay, Ali, I'll be careful** , she sent to Alison, followed by an  **I answered** to Sarah, and lastly a simple  **OK** to Delphine, her thumb lingering over the send button for so long her screen went black. Her fingers shook when she dropped her phone into her bag and pulled her coat off the chair she had thrown it over and not touched since her trip to buy ice cream (devoured before the night was over, the box still discarded in the kitchen). She left her laptop behind and double checked she had what she needed before leaving.

The short train ride didn't give her nearly enough time to think, but the walk over did. She intentionally slowed her pace, and mulled over what she was going to say. She had to apologize, firstly. She'd acted like a sulky teenager and Delphine hadn't deserved that. Her life was her life and she had the right to change her views whenever she wanted, and the two of were decidedly  _ not _ in a relationship. Cosima had no right to dictate who she slept with. As to her own personal feelings... a crush was just a crush, and it wasn't the first time Cosima's had been unrequited. She would just have to buck up and deal with it.

She stopped outside the door into Delphine's apartment building and tilted her head back to stare up, up, up towards where Delphine's bedroom window was, identical to the dozens of ones surrounding it. Her stomach twisted nervously. Cosima squared her shoulders, inhaled deeply, and strode inside. The elevator ride up gave her confidence an opportunity to dwindle, and she sent embarrassed sidelong glances at the dent her fist had made in the smooth metal interior.

Delphine opened the door after one knock. Cosima stared at her, her hello dying in her mouth. The blonde looked like shit, her hair dull and limp, skin pale, stretched over her bones, her eyes sunken and tired and bloodshot. She wasn't even bothering to hide her fangs, clearly visible even before she smiled weakly and stepped back to let Cosima inside. All the theories Cosima had had evaporated.

“Have you been eating?” she asked, apology forgotten. Delphine pushed the door shut. She answered with a shrug. Cosima knew the answer was no without having to push. She dropped her bag by the door, took off her shoes and shrugged out of her coat, crossing to the kitchen. Delphine trailed after her, and didn't complain when Cosima ripped open a blood bag with a mild disgust crinkling her nose, and poured its contents into a large cup. She spun on her heel and held it out, fixing Delphine with a firm look that she hoped booked no room for argument.

“Cosima...” Delphine sighed, but Cosima shoved the cup against her chest.

“Drink it.” And Delphine did, in one long breath, and looked worlds better for it. She still carried an air of exhaustion on her shoulders, but even in sweatpants and a beat up tank top, smiling sadly with a splotch of red at the corner of her lip, Cosima thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world. Her heart skipped.  _ Apology _ , she remembered.  _ You need to apologize for being a tool. _

“Look, so... about last week,” she started, sighing. “I was out of line.” Delphine reached past her to put her cup in the sink, then lightly hugged herself. “I was mad at you, and I had no right to be,  _ have _ no right to be, and it's  _ infuriating _ because... we aren't a thing, we never were, we're just... we're just friends right?” Her hands flailed, trying to properly convey how she felt. “But, that guy, that human, I just... I wanted to hunt him down and kill him and I have no right to do that, but I almost did anyway, but it's your life and your urges and you're not even  _ gay _ I just assumed, and what I'm  _ trying _ to say is that I'm sorr-” Delphine's hands were cold on her face, her lips colder still at the corner of her mouth. Cosima's heart fluttered.

“I'm sorry,” Delphine whispered, but she didn't pull away, and she didn't move her hands. Cosima swallowed, mouth dry.

“It's, uh... it's cool.” Delphine's teeth dented her lip, fangs still sharp. Cosima stared at them. She just had to tilt her head back, lean in... God, how she  _ wanted _ . Her whole body was thrumming, tight with anticipation, with desire. Her fingers twitched at her side.

“Can I?” Delphine asked softly, voice low and rough.

“God, yes,” Cosima sighed, and tangled her hands in Delphine's hair. She moaned at the contact, kissing Delphine hungrily as she pulled her away from the kitchen, stumbling and tripping towards the back of the apartment and Delphine's bedroom. Delphine panted against her lips, breath cool over Cosima's hot skin, running her into the wall. Cosima winced, but brushed it off and swallowed Delphine's apology with another kiss. She pulled at the blonde's tank top, fingers catching in the fabric and nearly ripping it off with a growl that caught her off guard.

“Was that you?” Delphine gasped. Cosima felt her cheeks heat, but she was too distracted by the flesh bared to her to pay it much mind. She nodded, letting Delphine press her to the wall again as she covered the blonde's breasts with her hands, kneading.

“Yeah,” she answered. “Sorry. Can't help it.” Delphine hid her face in Cosima's neck, hands braced on the wall, and groaned, arching her chest into the touch. Her teeth scraped and Cosima shuddered, growling again.

“It is very... hot,” Delphine said. Her hips canted forward, rolling against Cosima's and making her knees tremble. As nice as it was being pinned to the wall, she knew there was a large, comfortable bed just a handful of feet away, and that was where she wanted Delphine to be, preferably with Cosima on top of her. Her nails dragged down Delphine's stomach, fingers latching around her hips, pushing and pulling until they were on the move again, limbs flailing as clothes were removed. Cosima's elbow knocked against something heavy and it fell to the ground with a loud crash, shattering.

“Shit-sor-” but Delphine kissed her again, muttering not to worry, and all but shoving her into the bedroom. Cosima sat on the bed with a quiet grunt and opened her arms as Delphine fell into her, pushing them both down flat. Her lips left Cosima's, grazing against her jaw on their way down, pressing against Cosima's neck. She nipped, gently, but her fangs made it sharp, and Cosima gasped in a breath and bucked, moaning. Her chest tightened.  _ No, no, no, no, no, not now. Not now. _ A soft pop echoed in Cosima's ear, accompanied with a second of pain. The beast was calling. Cosima had gotten good at controlling it, but it was strong this time, and the shift was already starting. Delphine softly biting her wasn't helping. 

She groaned, rolling her body up, raking her nails down Delphine's back. Her knuckles popped. Delphine paused, feeling, and lifted her head up. Her fangs were full, eyes dark and hungry, almost predatory. Cosima had seen a similar look in Sarah's eyes, but Delphine's gaze softened when Sarah's never did, and she pressed her thumbs against Cosima's hips.

“Are you okay?” she asked. Cosima nodded, closing her eyes. She felt Delphine shift, and a cheek press against hers.

“Yeah, yeah, just give me a sec.” She inhaled deeply, holding tightly to Delphine to keep herself grounded, pushing away the shift. It was made all the harder when Delphine started to kiss her neck again. Cosima shuddered. “You're not helping.”

“Do you want me to stop?” Delphine asked, purred, hands sliding up Cosima's sides and closing over her breasts. Cosima whimpered, and pulled on Delphine's hair to lift her head.

“No,” she husked out, pushing their lips together. She was growling again, she could feel it vibrating in her chest, but while their touches weren't gentle, there was no blood drawn, and she kept the beast locked away.  _ Not today _ , she thought, flipping the two of them over with a buck of her hips and shift of her weight. Delphine's teeth pricked at her flesh, but she didn't bite. Her nails dug, though, and Cosima knew she'd have marks on the backs of her shoulders in the morning. She couldn't have cared less.

 


	12. Bunnies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosima has an accident.

Delphine lay with her head pillowed on Cosima's chest, listening to the steady  _ thump, thump, thump _ of her heart, feeling it bump against the skin under her ear. It had taken a few minutes for Cosima's breathing to settle, and for a time her heartbeat had been a stuttered staccato while Delphine stroked her stomach and kissed her shoulder. Her teeth still throbbed, begging her to sink them in when Cosima's blood was racing, but her body was fully satisfied for the first time in years. Cosima's fingers were well and truly tangled in her hair, gently pulling with each stroke. A giggle bubbled out of her mouth. Delphine poked her stomach.

“I just remembered I broke your lamp,” Cosima laughed, batting her hand away. “I'm sorry.”

“It is only a lamp,” Delphine replied, pressing her hand flat. It rose and fell in time with Cosima's breathing. “It doesn't matter. I'll buy another one.” Cosima hummed and twirled her hair again. Delphine shifted closer, nuzzling her shoulder and neck. “We shouldn't have done that.”

“No, probably not,” Cosima agreed. “It goes against so many rules, friend-wise and... species wise.” Delphine cringed.

“Yes.”

“I'm really comfy.” Delphine hummed her reply. “Are you sorry?”

“Not at all.” Delphine looked up in time to catch Cosima's grin and couldn't help but return it, leaning up to kiss her. Cosima gently nipped at her lip, cradling the back of Delphine's head with one hand and rubbing her arm with the other. “What happened before?” she asked. Cosima blushed and looked away.

“Yeah, sorry about that. I'll keep an eye on it, I promise. It's sort of the same with you I guess, I mean, you had your fangs out the whole time. Not that I'm complaining, mind. It was hot.” Delphine would have blushed. Instead she turned her head away, bashful, and laid back down. Cosima slid an arm around her waist.

“It happens when I am hungry,” Delphine muttered into Cosima's shoulder. “And when I am... aroused.”

“Hot,” Cosima repeated, her smile in her voice. Delphine smacked her shoulder lightly and was rewarded with a chuckle. “I should probably go. It's getting late.” Delphine hummed and kissed her shoulder.

“Yes. I will see you soon?” Cosima grinned at her, reaching for her glasses and perching them on her nose.

“Yeah, of course.” She lingered for a lengthy kiss, Delphine's fingers on her jaw and Cosima's hand on the back of her neck before slipping out of the bed and searching for her clothes. Delphine's let her eyes follow, appreciating the shift of Cosima's muscles under her skin in the low lamp light, and waved as the brunette quickly pulled on her skirt and shirt and slipped out of the room with another grin. A moment later the door shut behind her. Delphine sighed and sank back into her bed, a giddy grin spreading across her face.

 

Someone knocking at her door startled Delphine out of her work. She sighed. There was no trace of Cosima in the air which only meant one thing; the neighbours. Her and Cosima had been careful, as careful as they could be, but she knew sometimes they got a bit.... loud (Delphine did at any rate, it wasn't her fault Cosima was so good with her hands). She couldn't think of any other reason why a fellow vampire would bother her, especially in the middle of the day. Her neighbour knocked again. Delphine pinched the bridge of her nose and tossed her pen down on the files spread across her coffee table and went to answer it.

Mr. Jenkins awaited her on the other side, an older man, both in human terms and vampire ones, and all but barged into her apartment, squinting and sniffing the air. Shocked, Delphine stared at him.

“Can I help you?” she asked pointedly, one hand still wrapped around the edge of the door.

“It smells like dog in here,” Jenkins growled, stalking about the living room. Delphine shot across the room to keep him from going into her bedroom, clearing her throat. He “bah”'d her and turned away. Delphine shoved a hand through her hair. “Smells like the bad kind of dog.”

“I work for Leekie, Mr. Jenkins,” Delphine said with as must patience as she could muster. “I've been in the lab a lot recently. We had a subject escape, remember?” Jenkins huffed disapprovingly.

“Don't know why that man bothers with all those... experiments. World would be a better place if all those animals were put down. Like they should be.” He nodded to finalize his point. Delphine scowled and grabbed his arm, guiding him back towards the door and ignoring his protest.

“If you don't mind, I have a rather lot of work to do,” she said before shoving him into the hall as gently as she could and slamming the door shut when he spun around to say something. She locked it to be sure and sagged against it, sighing again. She heard him grumbling under his breath and shuffling down the hall, then the loud thump of his door shutting. That was far too close. She sniffed experimentally. “Merde.” Her place reeked of Cosima, of her perfume, and of her familiar earthen smell. She'd grown so used to it that she hadn't noticed. Work forgotten, she fished her phone out from under all the papers and after skimming over Cosima's earlier texts, fired off a quick explanation. Cosima's response was enthusiastic, followed by a smiley face and her address.

 

Delphine brought a stack of files with her (nothing werewolf related, she assured Cosima with a sweet smile), but it had hardly been five minutes of her sat down and working before Cosima got bored and started playing with her hair. Delphine's eyes closed when Cosima started to rub the base of her skull and the back of her neck. She hadn't really meant for them to start making out, but it sure as hell felt good. Before had been so rushed and hurried and desperate, and when Cosima had gotten home she'd noticed dried blood on her shoulder from where she had smashed it into the lamp. Delphine's lips were cool and soft, as were her hands on Cosima's cheeks and jaw, fingertips stroking her ear.

She let herself be gently pushed down on the sofa, guiding Delphine to stretch out on top of her and smiling when their knees bumped and Delphine giggled. Delphine carefully removed her glasses, setting them on top of her papers. It was innocent enough, until the kiss deepened, and Cosima felt more than heard Delphine's quiet groan as it vibrated against her lips. She felt the prick of Delphine's fangs. The blonde's hips rolled against hers. Cosima arched her body up to meet her. Her chest rumbled softly. She ignored it. She could keep in control. She'd managed it before, she could do it again.

Delphine's teeth scraped across her neck. Her hips were rolling again, a steady grind pushing her bones against Cosima's and sending delicious shivers and shocks down her spine and feeding the ache growing between her legs. She's doing it on purpose, Cosima realized distantly, and she would have laughed if it wasn't for Delphine's thigh nudging hers apart and pressing up, and the deep growl and loud pop that followed after. Surprised, Cosima could do nothing to stop it, and shoved Delphine away, tumbling off the sofa and running for the door as her body contorted painfully. She heard Delphine's startled shout before she threw open the door to her porch and bolted across the lawn into the woods on the far side.

When she came to herself again, it took her a moment to realize where she was, the woods being as familiar to her as her own home, and another to smell the blood and guts of the rabbit she had slaughtered. Cosima groaned, wiping blood off her mouth and chin with the back of her hand and shakily got to her feet. She shook her head in a manner that felt entirely too dog-like to clear the last traces of the animalistic fog from her mind, and started picking her way back through the foliage towards home.

She was thankful for the late hour to shield her as she jogged across the open field, sniffing experimentally. She could still smell Delphine, and when she drew close enough, saw the flicker of her shadow pass over the wall inside the porch door. Tiredly, she slid it open, and was met with the sight of a concerned Delphine pause pacing in the middle of the living room, just next to the sofa. For a long moment the two of them did nothing but stare at each other before Cosima cleared her throat.

“I'm sorry,” she said. “I'm usually pretty good at controlling it, but the closer it gets to the full moon the harder it gets. It just sort of snuck up on me.”

“I'm sorry, too,” Delphine replied. “I did not even think-”

“No, no, no,” Cosima cut in. “It's totally not your fault. Honestly.” Delphine looked apprehensive, but she nodded, then her body stiffened and she looked away. Cosima cleared her throat, aware of her nakedness, and rubbed the back of her neck. “Let me just wash up and I'll be right back.”

“Yes, of course,” Delphine said. Cosima hurried past her, thankful that she was familiar enough with the layout of her house not to bump into anything without her glasses on.

 


	13. Kill of the Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You’re my kill of the night."

Delphine was putting on a brave face, but Cosima could tell that she was startled and maybe a bit scared. After all, the only experience she had ever had with werewolves in their other form was conducted with thick walls between them. Cosima didn't push her to stay for breakfast when the sun began to break the horizon, and was rewarded with a gentle kiss. Over the next week, while she was disappointed that an influx of work kept Delphine in the lab and away from her, Cosima worked as hard as she could on making sure she wouldn't slip up again. She was in control of her shift, not the beast.

When she wasn't working on the paper that she had completely forgotten she had to do for her online class, she closed her eyes and thought about Delphine; her creamy skin, the scent of her hair, the feel of her lips and fingers, and when the beast in her chest started to make itself known, Cosima pushed it away with all she had in her, even when it threatened to overtake her. She bugged Delphine as well. If Delphine was annoyed by the constant texts, she didn't show it, responding with flirtatious remarks, letting Cosima know how much she wished they were together. It made Cosima's heart do flips and her stomach fill with fluttery butterflies. Even the growing threat of the full moon making her extra testy didn't bother her as much as it normally did.

 **Can I come over?** Delphine texted one evening, the night before the full moon. Cosima knew she should have said no, but she hasn't seen Delphine in over a week, and she missed her kisses and her touch. She sent off her reply, and started to clean up the mess of ashtrays and books and papers that littered almost every room in the house, excitement making her feel like she was high, and anticipation curling in the pit of her stomach.

She was putting the last of her books away when she heard the knock on the door. Cosima straightened up, rubbing her hand against her forehead with a muttered curse, and quickly brushed herself down, straightening her clothes and her glasses and pulling her dreads out of the back of her shirt. Delphine smiled nervously at her when she opened the door, eyes shiny with make up and her hair curling gently around her shoulders. She clutched her coat tightly to her, legs bare beneath its hem. Cosima swallowed, and stepped aside to let her in.

“Wine?” she asked, shutting the door. Delphine hummed, and shook her head.

“No,” she said, and the low rush of her voice made Cosima shiver. Delphine turned on her heel, hands working at the buttons of her coat, her teeth digging into her lip. Her fangs were out, glinting dimly in the light from the floor lamp. “I had something else in mind.”

“Uh-” Cosima stammered, staring. One by one the buttons popped open, revealing inch after inch of smooth pale skin, the two symmetrical scars on either side of her collar, the gentle swell of her breasts and stomach. Cosima's mouth went dry.

“Well?” Delphine asked. The coat fell from her shoulders, pooling on the ground, leaving her in nothing but a pair of flats, which she daintily stepped out of. She raised her arm, fingers stretching towards Cosima. Cosima swiftly closed the distance between them, her heart pounding, and pulled Delphine against her. Their lips met roughly, Delphine's fang catching on Cosima's lip and tearing the sensitive flesh. They both groaned. Cosima slid a hand into Delphine's hair, tipping her head back to kiss down her throat, propelling them back towards the bedroom. How they made it without breaking anything Cosima didn't know, but she didn't care. She pushed Delphine back onto the bed and whipped her shirt off her head so roughly she knocked her glasses and heard the fabric rip. She threw the shirt aside, stepping forward to let Delphine push her skirt off her hips, and pull Cosima down on top of her.

 

Sarah shook the after effects of her transformation off of her and sniffed the night air. Her bones settled into place. The wind ruffled her fur. She snorted softly, put her nose to the ground, and began to walk. She could smell the white wolf more strongly now, and could trace the path it had taken around her territory from one tree to the next. With patience she didn't normally possess, she remarked the boundaries as she came to them, as she had been over the past few weeks, until she was satisfied that she had marked her hunting grounds again.

She raised her head. Hunger gnawed at her, constant and strong. Her keen senses picked up the trace of a deer, but it was too much for her to eat alone. Something smaller then. She tested the air as she jogged casually through the woods, then stopped abruptly when she picked up something familiar and unwanted. She growled, and gave chase. As she ran, she caught glimpses of her prey in the trees. She was aware that she was being led in circles, but now that she had her sights on the elusive wolf, she refused to give up the chase.

Sarah was strong. She could run for hours and not tire. She wouldn't let this wolf, this nobody who had moved into _her_ territory and threatened _her_ daughter get out of the woods alive, not when she was so close that Sarah could almost taste its blood. The moonlight slanted through the trees, bathing the foliage around her in a dapple of silver light that blurred as Sarah bolted through, hot on the heels of the other wolf. Hatred fuelled her, the need to protect that which belonged to her and to her pack. This interloper had picked the wrong wolf to fuck with.

 

Alison hated the full moon. She hated more than anything else in her life. She hated the way the beast clawed at her, demanding to be set free. Even the pills couldn't stave it off every month, regardless of how many of them Alison took. In fact, this month seemed to be worse than the last, like a bad period. The ferocity of it caught Alison off guard. In the back of her mind she could hear Beth's voice telling her she understood why Alison didn't like it, but it wasn't healthy to suppress it. Felix would have agreed with her, Alison knew.

She paced around her craft room, a glass of wine in her hand, trying and failing to keep the growling in her chest from growing any louder. Eventually, she found herself resigned to giving into the advice that Felix had bestowed upon her. Maybe a little hunt wouldn't hurt, just something local to keep the hunger at bay. It would help with pest control, too. That was always a plus. Alison finished her wine and carefully set the glass down on her craft table. She rolled her shoulders and her neck and shook the tension in her muscles out through her fingers.

It was an odd sensation letting the change come to her rather than grudgingly accepting that she couldn't avoid it on the full moon. When she was a safe distance from her home, hidden away in the woods, she carefully folded her clothes and set them in her bag. She was used to the pain of transforming by now, but it didn't make it any less pleasant. She was surprised to find, however, when she was shaking her shoulders and head and her fur settled, that she felt a hundred times better than she had before.

She began to hunt. It couldn't have been more than fifteen minutes before a barking started up. Deep in the human part of her mind, Alison was _annoyed_. She turned towards the sound and sniffed. She knew that scent, but she couldn't piece together who it was or where she had smelled it before. _Dog._ She snarled and padded towards the barking. She hated dogs.

 

Cosima writhed beneath Delphine's touch, covered in sweat, the scratch of her nails along Delphine's arms leaving thin red lines in her lover's flesh. Delphine's teeth kept poking at her neck, close to drawing blood but never quite puncturing. She was shaking with the effort of not biting, her body trembling under Cosima's hands. She wondered what it would feel like. There would never be any danger of Delphine turning her. The only real problem was whether or not she could trust Delphine to stop before she bled Cosima dry.

Delphine's fangs dragged along her skin again, deliciously close to breaking through. Cosima groaned, her entire body rolling up. She pulled on Delphine's hair in response and was rewarded with a breathy moan. She was wet, she could feel it, smell it. She could smell it on Delphine, too, and feel it coating her thigh. Delphine's teeth scraped again. Cosima growled, tilting her head back, baring her throat. She wanted it, _god_ how she wanted it. Her own teeth stretched against her gums. She heard Delphine's deep inhale, the blonde's nose pressed against her pulse. Her fingers tickled lightly down Cosima's stomach and slid between their bodies, teasing.

Cosima thought it would be enough, it had before, but she could feel the tension in Delphine's jaw, the sharp points of her teeth, the stiffness in her limbs. She tilted her head again, tugging on Delphine's hair to get her attention. Delphine's eyes were black, hungry. Cosima held her gaze.

“Do it,” she said, and Delphine melted against her, one hand gripping Cosima's jaw and pushing her head further back. Her teeth sank into Cosima's flesh, and Cosima's body shuddered violently, a moan she hardly recognized as her own ripping from her throat.

 

Alison hated that stupid yappy dog. She never understood why Aynsley couldn't put a muzzle on the thing, and it was always peeing in her front yard, masking the scents that Alison had so meticulously laid there over the years since her and Donnie had bought the house. She hid in the shadows, waiting for dog and owner to leave, but instead Aysnley was snooping about her house, looking concerned. Alison growled, low and long. Aysnley's dog stopped barking for a moment, ears pricked forward, then started up again, tugging on his leash. Alison snapped her teeth. What was Aysnley even doing outside her house so late at night anyway? Didn't she have anything better to do? She flattened her ears against her head. The barking needed to stop or she was going to snap. She clacked her teeth, trying to threaten the dog into silence, but he only barked louder. Aynsley tugged on his leash.

Alison had had just about enough of snoopy Aynsley prying into her life and her stupid dog with his stupid barking waking her up at all hours of the night. She lunged, covering the distance between her and her victims in a few easy strides. The dog's barking turned into a strangled yelp that Alison quickly cut short. She shook her head, teeth ripping into flesh, warm blood flooding into her mouth. Aynsley screamed. Alison reacted automatically, whirling on her. Her muzzle stained red, Alison ripped off the hand that tried to fend her away and shoved the human to the ground and dug her claws in as her teeth found the soft skin of Aynsley's throat.

 

Sarah lost sight of the white wolf as dawn was nearing, but didn't have time to renew her search before it leapt out of the foliage and bowled into her with a strength that betrayed its slim form. Sarah yelped as they rolled through the bushes, clawing and snapping. _Female_ , a distant part of her noticed. The same scent as that woman who had been following her and Kira.

Sarah untangled herself and bared her teeth in a snarl. Her opponent was already on her feet, fur spiked up and her lips curled back over her fangs, ears flattened to her skull. Sarah crouched down, ready to pounce, her tail tucked close to her body. She was the larger of the two, and no matter how hard this ghost wolf fought, Sarah would emerge victorious.

Dawn was breaking now, erasing the silvery moonlight and replacing it with harsh shadows as the horizon began to turn red and pink and orange. Sarah jumped forward, hoping to crush her opponent under her weight. Her plan mostly succeeded, but the white wolf was feisty. They scrambled around in the dirt, nails and teeth finding fur and flesh. Sarah could feel her second shift starting before she'd managed to clamp her jaws around the other wolf's neck and deliver the death blow.

Her opponent was shifting too. Teeth shrank, paws extended back into fingers, claws into nails. Sarah rolled them back over just as the transformation completed, her hand around the throat of the now naked woman underneath her, the same one who had been following her and Kira. She continued to claw and kick, doing her best to dislodge Sarah from her position. Sarah tightened her grip, intending to choke her victim, but right as she did, the other woman's eyes flashed open. Sarah paused. Something tugged in her chest. The woman, despite her erratic breathing and the pounding of her heart, stared up at her curiously. Sarah's brows and fingers twitched. She took a deep breath... and stopped.

“Who are you?” Sarah snarled, pissed that this skimpy little white _thing_ had gotten the better of her. Pissed that she had found the one person in the universe outside her family that she had qualms about killing.

“My name is Helena,” the woman said in heavily accented English. Sarah growled at her, but Helena didn't shrink away, just pulled her lips back over teeth still slightly too pointed.

“Why have you been following me?” Sarah demanded. Helena shrugged.

“You smell like home.” Sarah faltered. There was a tugging in her chest. She tightened her fingers, but released them immediately, and swung off of Helena's hips, standing, extending her hand to help Helena to her feet. Her offer was accepted, and she easily hauled Helena up, then dropped her hand away and took an awkward step back.

“We should get you some clothes,” Sarah said with a sigh, running her hand through her hair. Her adrenaline fading, she was noticing all the places Helena had caught her, all the aches and sharp stings that came from their fight. She rubbed her face and pinched the bridge of her nose, then glanced around to catch her bearings. Their chase had brought them close to Alison's, and if Sarah had her positioning right, there was an emergency drop nearby. Alison wouldn't be happy about some scruffy stranger wearing her clothes (or Sarah), but it was better then both of them traipsing around naked.

 

It turned out that Alison had problems of her own, the least of which was Sarah bringing home strays. Sarah could smell the carnage blocks away, and the sudden growl behind her told her Helena had as well. Sarah kept a firm grasp on her new sister's shoulder and with a warning glance Helena stood down, keeping on Sarah's heels as they strode quickly down the road. The scent grew stronger the closer they got. Sarah inspected the pavement, but it had been scrubbed clean and smelled faintly of bleach. Frowning, Sarah led Helena around the side of the house and knocked on the door. Alison opened it in in less than five seconds and practically hauled Sarah inside.

“Sarah, something terrible has happ-” Alison's eyes widened when they settled on Helena, hesitating behind Sarah in a set of Sarah's spare clothes, chewing on her lip. “Who the hell is that?” Sarah glanced over her shoulder and motioned Helena forward.

“Uh, you know that white wolf that was followin' me around?” Sarah replied.

“ _You brought her here?_ ” Alison spun on her heel, ponytail flying, and threw her hands up. Sarah pulled Helena inside and shut and locked the door, following Alison as she stomped up the stairs and started to bang around in the kitchen, muttering angrily to herself.

“Uh, Alison?” Sarah asked. Alison held up a finger and slammed an ice pack and a mug of coffee down on the counter in front of Sarah. Sarah sighed and sat down, holding the ice pack to a particularly nasty bruise forming on her cheek and raised the mug. When Helena reached for it, Sarah glared at her and leaned away. The blonde scrunched her nose up, but didn't try to take the cup again. She wandered around the kitchen, hands clasped behind her back, inspecting her surroundings. “Alison,” Sarah tried again. “Why can I smell blood and guts?” Alison nearly dropped her spatula. She took a steadying breath before she resumed dishing up food.

“I may have had a... a little accident,” Alison replied, setting two plates in front of Sarah with a clatter. Sarah pushed hers away. Helena, alerted by the scent of food, hovered over Sarah's shoulder until Sarah pushed both plates towards her. Helena sat, staring with wide eyes, and started to shove as much food in her mouth as she could. Sarah shook her head with a sigh and turned her attention back to Alison, ignoring the noises coming from Helena.

“What kind of accident?” she asked. Alison braced herself against the counter. Sarah watched her neck flex as she swallowed.

“I-I killed Aynsley,” Alison replied, her voice choked. “And that stupid dog of hers. They just kept barking and barking and-”

“Okay, Alison, take a deep breath.”

“I hate yoga,” Alison replied immediately. She rubbed at her eyes, glistening with tears.

“Where's the body?” Sarah asked. Alison's hand hovered by her chin.

“ _They_ are in a garbage bag in the garage.”

“Alison, you don't just dump a bag of corpses in your garage!”

“I didn't know what to do!”

“Take them into the woods and act like a bear did it!”

“Fine!” Alison threw up her hands again. “Then _you_ can help me! And where is Cosima? We're supposed to be meeting tonight and I haven't heard a word from her.” Sarah finished her coffee and dumped the ice pack on the counter.

“I'll text her,” she said, “and I'll help you clean up your mess, but first-” Helena burped loudly, and muttered a quiet “excuse me.” “What the hell are we going to do with her?”

 


	14. The Big Bad Wolf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf?

Helena locked securely in Alison's craft room, Sarah followed her sister out of the house and helped her lift the conspicuous looking bag in the middle of the garage. Alison was lucky that it hadn't bled through, but the stench was unmistakeable. Like an animal had died. At least that could be excuse. Sarah scrunched her nose up. The scent of death and rotting flesh was different from blood and meat. One was food, the other was poison.

Thankfully it was still early. Even suburbia wasn't awake yet, and the long shadows cast by the rising sun gave Alison and Sarah plenty of time to drag the bag as far into the woods as they dared and dump it out. Alison looked like she was about to be sick, pale and tinged green, and excused herself with a barely contained heave, leaving Sarah to kick the mutilated corpses around and scuff over the tracks they had left on their way out. Alison stomped ahead, holding the scrunched up garbage bag in her hands. Sarah brushed her own off on her jeans and fished her phone out of her pocket, sending a quick text to Cosima reminding her about their meet up before hurrying after her sister.

As soon as they arrived back at the house, Sarah knew something was wrong. The air smelled different, and closer inspection revealed that the door was open.

“Shite,” Sarah muttered, rushing past Alison and into the house. The lock on the craft room door had been broken, and the door hung open, the knob a mess of splintered wood and scraped off pain, debris littering the floor. Ignoring Alison's calls, Sarah took the stairs two at a time, emerging into a kitchen that looked like a bomb had gone off it in, cabinets swung wide and drink bottles, food wrappers and boxes scattered everywhere. Sarah turned on her heel, nearly knocking over a startled Alison, who immediately followed her.

“Sarah-”

“I have to go after her,” Sarah butted in, darting into the craft room and sniffing the air to pick up a set. Alison gasped softly at the remains of the chair they had tied Helena to.

“My chair is broken...” she said.

“Alison, I need to go fi-”

“Sarah, you don't understand, it's a _set_!” Sarah could hear the pounding of Alison's heart, the hitch in her breath, how it quivered ever so slightly. Beth, Sarah knew. The tension drained from her shoulders. She hadn't been there that day, but the chairs had been there the next time she visited, and Alison had been so proud that her and Beth had the same taste in furniture. That night, when they were walking home together, Beth had told Sarah that flat packed furniture was the worst thing in the world, but that it was worth it to see Alison happy.

“Ali,” Sarah said gently, “I have to go find Helena, okay? Then I'll come help you clean up before Donnie and the kids get home.” Alison nodded, but didn't reply. Concerned as she was, Sarah couldn't stay while Helena was running around doing God knows what.

It took her the better part of the day to find Helena again. The woman moved fast, but surprisingly predictable once Sarah figured out where to look. She found Helena with her knees curled up to her chest on a bench in one of the parks, chocolate smeared around her lips. A mix of relieved and irritated, Sarah sighed and strode over, grabbing Helena's arm and pulling her up.

“Come on, meathead,” she said. “Next time you do that I'm going to lock you in the basement.”

“I am sorry, seestra.”

“Apologize to Alison, not me. You tore her house up, and that's not okay, yeah?” Helena huffed, but didn't argue, and kept close to Sarah's side during the walk back. As they neared the house, the dark doing nothing to inhibit Sarah's vision, she checked her phone again. Still no reply. Typical Cosima, Sarah thought, sending another text. Probably sleeping, or too high to realize that her phone had gone off. It wouldn't be the end of the world if she didn't show, but ritual was ritual, and if Cosima missed it, she had better have a damn good reason for it.

 

Cosima untangled herself from Delphine's lanky limbs to reach for her phone when the reminder beep and flashing light got too annoying for her to ignore. Delphine hummed sleepily, her hand dragging across Cosima's stomach to rest on her hip. Squinting, Cosima stared at her screen, blurry until her eyes adjusted to the sudden change of light.

“Oh, shit,” she said, sitting up.

“What is it?” Delphine asked with groggy concern. Cosima swung her legs over the bed and stood with a quiet grunt and stretch that popped her spine and shoulders.

“Full moon,” she explained, looking over her shoulder and grinning. “Remember?” Delphine frowned at her for a few seconds before realization sparked in her eyes.

“Ah, hunting with the pack, yes?” she asked. She stretched as well, the blanket sliding down and revealing pale flesh dotted with marks left by Cosima's teeth and nails, already over halfway healed. Cosima knew she looked the same. Her neck was especially sore, but she'd never felt so good in her entire life.

“Yeah,” she replied, looking for her clothes before giving up and pulling a fresh set out of her wardrobe. “You can stay if you want. I'll be back before lunch time tomorrow.” Delphine hummed again.

“I think I will,” she said. Cosima could hear the smile in her voice. “You have a very nice apartment, and it does not stink of city and vampires.”

“Only one vampire,” Cosima replied.

“Cheeky,” Delphine said as Cosima tugged a sweater over her head and pulled her hair free, groping for her glasses and almost knocking them off the corner of her dresser.

“Yeah,” she said, sliding them onto her face. “You love it, though.” Delphine's smile grew.

“Yes.” Cosima's heart swelled, blood rushing to her face. She crossed the room in a few strides and pushed Delphine into the pillows with a firm kiss that set her pulse racing, and had Delphine's teeth scraping against her lips.

“I'll be back,” Cosima whispered, stealing another kiss, then another, then another until they were both giggling and pushing and pulling and Cosima was gasping out that she needed to leave or she'd never get out of the house, and hopped into her shoes with a grin splitting her face feeling like she was on top of the world. She caught the next train into town and a cab to Alison's street, the whole time with her chest and stomach fluttering, smiling like an idiot, unable to stop even when people gave her funny looks. She was still grinning when she opened the door to Alison's and walked in.

“Hey, sorry I'm la-” she was cut off by a growl and her back slamming against the door, shutting it so hard that the window glass rattled. Sarah was pressed against her, all fangs and amber eyes, her arm across Cosima's chest, pinning her. Behind her, Alison was wide-eyed, her own eyes a mix of brown and gold.

“Explain!” Sarah snarled before Cosima could say anything. “Now!”

“Explain what!?” Cosima shouted.

“You smell like vampire!” Sarah replied. Her chest vibrated against Cosima's. _Shit_.

“Uh, well, about that, it's sort of funny-” Cosima started, squirming a bit, but Sarah was stronger than her. “You know how I got caught by DYAD and I said I escaped? Well, I kind of had some help with-” A flash of movement behind Sarah caught her eye, immediately setting her on guard. She should have smelled the newcomer before she opened the door, but she was so distracted by thoughts of Delphine... “Who the fuck is that?” The stranger's face was contorted, fangs bared, looking scrawny and half-starved, but dangerous as sin.

“Who is this person?” she asked, her eyes flicking briefly to Sarah. “She smells unholy.”

“Yes, Helena, I fucking _know_ she smells unholy,” Sarah replied.

“You're shouting at me for smelling like a vampire and you brought a _feral wolf into our pack!?_ What the _fuck_ Sarah?”

“Everybody stop shouting right now, my children are sleeping!” Alison shouted from the other side of the room. Sarah's growl ceased immediately, Helena's cutting off a second later. She had her face on, the one she got when she was fed up with everyone's shit. The three of them stared at her waiting. “We are leaving _right_ now!” Alison continued, hoisting her bag onto her shoulder and tossing Sarah's at her feet. Sarah stepped back to let Cosima go and picked it up. Cosima grabbed her own from where it had fallen and stumbled sideways out of Alison's path. “Cosima, you are watching Helena.”

“But-”

“ _Do not argue._ ” She threw the door open and pointed into the night. “Let's go. Now!” She walked out, leaving the others staring after her. Sarah recovered first, glaring at Cosima on her way out the door. Helena followed after like a puppy, snapping her teeth at Cosima, who shut the door behind her, jogging to keep up.

The hunt was a disaster; the worst one they had ever had, and there had been some bad ones (Beth, namely). Sarah and Alison were a force to be reckoned with, ruthlessly hunting down prey the second they caught scent of it on the wind and leaving Cosima trying to herd Helena back to the pack when she wandered off. Cosima hardly had time to eat anything between Alison ripping everything to shreds and Sarah snapping at her whenever she got close, preferring the newcomer to her, growling while Helena skulked around waiting for Sarah's permission when it should have been Cosima's turn to eat. By the time morning came, Cosima was wearily trotting after her packmates as they headed back to the drop, almost too tired to even change back. She flopped to the ground the second they were back to their bags and lay there with her eyes closed and tongue lolling until the sun touched the tops of the trees, and the end of the night brought her back into her human form with more cracking and popping and pain.

“Who is it?” Sarah asked, covering dirty flesh with an old t-shirt and tossing one to Helena. Cosima wearily sat up and dragged her own bag to her, shoving her glasses onto her face before worrying about clothes.

“Her name is Delphine,” she said softly. Her throat felt raw. “She helped me escape and we've been-” She paused to pull a loose shirt on and push herself to her feet. “We've been seeing each other. Sort of.”

“What do you mean sort of?” Sarah asked brusquely. Alison's footsteps rustled in the leaves as she left them behind, already dressed and repacked. Cosima pulled a pair of old jeans over her legs and hips.

“We're sleeping together.” Sarah growled, but stopped herself and sighed, squeezing her eyes shut. She zipped up her bag so hard the zipper almost broke.

“You're ending it now,” she said. Cosima's chest stung. She scowled at her sister.

“No,” she replied. “You can't tell me what to do.”

“I'm your alpha,” Sarah snapped. “You fuckin' watch me tell you what to do!”

“Fuck you, Sarah,” Cosima spat, throwing her bag over her shoulder and storming off. Fuck her, she thought again. Fuck her for thinking she had the right to tell Cosima how to live her life. Delphine wasn't _dangerous_ , and she hadn't asked to be what she was any more than Cosima had. She fished around in her bag for her cell phone and called for a cab, giving an address several blocks away and hoping that the walk would wear her out enough that she wouldn't feel like ripping someone's throat out by the time she got there.

 


	15. We're Not the Monsters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sarah executes her plan and Delphine makes a rash judgement.

Delphine was still at the apartment when Cosima finally got back, less pissed and more worried. The blonde was waiting at the door for her, smiling, but her expression changed when she saw the look on Cosima's face. Her brow furrowed, lips turning down with concern. She tilted her head to the side, and opened her mouth to speak, but Cosima cut her off.

“They know,” she said. “They know. Sarah could smell you on me.”

“What did you do?” Delphine asked. Cosima shrugged, and fixed her bag strap. It felt heavy on her shoulder. All she wanted to do was curl up in bed with Delphine and forget the previous night ever happened.

“I left,” she replied. “I couldn't think of anything else to do and Sarah wasn't listen-” There was something in the air, something familiar, but it was the middle of the morning, Sarah wouldn't ever be stupid enough to shift in broad daylight. Cosima whirled on her heel in time to see Sarah, dark and large and quick, barrelling out of the woods towards them with that white stray on her heels. Helena hung back, snarling and stalking, but Sarah bolted forward, nearly knocking Cosima over and heading straight for Delphine. Cosima's first instinct was to shift, but for the first time in her life, she was having trouble. Her bag hit the ground. She watched as Delphine and Sarah tumbled around through the grass and dirt, growling and hissing and snapping.

Sarah's teeth clamped around Delphine's arm, the blonde shrieking and grabbing the scruff of Sarah's neck, muscles bulging and teeth glistening, flecks of blood on her lips. That was all it took. Half a minute of excruciating pain later and Cosima was bowling into Sarah's side, knocking her off of Delphine and sending them rolling across the grass, snapping and biting at each other in a tangle of thrashing limbs and sharp teeth and claws, yelping and growling. Cosima tasted flesh and felt Sarah's claws gouge into her shoulder. She cried out, more of a pained bark, but before she could retaliate Delphine had grabbed Sarah and hauled her away, shoving her several feet back. Cosima struggled to her feet, snarling at Sarah, her hackles raised. Sarah growled right back, Helena at her shoulder, and after a handful of seconds made a move for Delphine again, but Cosima clacked her teeth threateningly and flattened her ears, ready to pounce.

Finally, Sarah snapped and huffed and turned and trotted into the woods. Helena pulled her lips back in a snarl before following after. Cosima stayed where she was, bristling and growling until the scent of her pack mate and Helena faded. When she was certain they were safe again, she sighed and flicked her ears back up, turning around to face Delphine again. The blonde gave her a hopeless glance.

“What do I do?” she asked, holding her injured arm close to her body. It was healing, but slowly, and had coated her skin and shirt in blood. Cosima huffed and shook her head and shifted her weight off of her injured shoulder. Delphine shoved a hand through her hair, then carefully lowered herself to the ground, sitting with her legs crossed. Cosima limped over to her and plopped down next to her, placing her head in Delphine's lap and closing her eyes, waiting for her adrenaline to fade and her shoulder to heal enough for her to shift back. After a moment, she felt Delphine's hand on the top of her head, stroking her fur and scratching behind her ears.

There was a giant gash across the back of Cosima's shoulders that hurt even more when she changed back. The stretching of her skin did nothing but irritate the wound. Delphine cooed over her, but Cosima brushed her off, carefully getting to her feet. Her clothes were nothing more than shredded remains scattered where she'd shifted, but at least her glasses remained intact. Cosima gently picked them up and pushed them back onto her face, giving Delphine as comforting a smile as she could manage.

Delphine made a beeline for the bathroom, popping opening the medicine. Cosima heard pill bottles clatter and alcohol slosh, and the smack of a tin of bandages hit the sink and fall to the floor, followed by a soft curse from Delphine. Cosima padded past, holding her arm close, and grabbed her pyjama bottoms from the foot of the bed, pulling them over her hips. A shirt would have to wait. She spun around and nearly ran into Delphine, coming up short with a sharp inhale and a mumbled apology.

“Here,” Delphine said, motioning. “Sit.” Cosima lowered herself to the bed with a sigh and a wince, clenching her teeth. Delphine's touch was gentle, but it didn't lessen the sting of alcohol on her flesh. She did her best not to flinch away. “Do you want to tell me why your... friend attacked me?” Cosima sighed.

“Things have been really horrible since Beth died,” she said, and cleared her throat to keep her voice from breaking. She still felt the pain as keenly as her pack mates did. “Sarah blames herself. Alison blames herself. All it was was Beth losing it. Sarah's just... Sarah's just trying to protect what's left of us.” Delphine balled up bloody tissues and set them aside.

“And why didn't you then turn on me as well?” she asked.

“Why would I?”

“Because you were...” Delphine gestured vaguely and wrapped Cosima's arm in gauze. “I don't know.”

“Because I was a wolf?” Cosima asked. She couldn't help the offended tone of her voice. “Everything you know about my kind is _wrong_. We're not the monsters that people like Leekie have led you to believe. You observe us in extreme and unnatural conditions. Are you really surprised when we lash out at you for imprisoning us?” Delphine looked ashamed, her eyes focused on the work that her hands were doing.

“I am sorry,” she finally said.

“It's okay. You didn't know. It's totally reasonable for you to be wary, I mean, culture has made both of us out to be completely inhuman, so let's just, like... try not to make any more assumptions about each other, okay?”

“Okay,” Delphine replied, nodding.

“Good, now let me see your arm.”

“It's fine, really.”

“Let me see it.” Delphine sighed, but presented her arm for Cosima's inspection. The punctures were still there. Cosima prodded experimentally with careful fingers. Delphine's breath hitched, but she didn't say anything. “Do you want this bandaged or anything?”

“No,” Delphine replied, gently pulling her arm away. “It's all right. It should heal completely soon..”

“Whatever you say,” Cosima replied. She leaned back, stretching out on her bed with a sigh. She'd have to deal with Sarah at some point. Her alpha had a temper on her, one that Cosima doubted would fade any time soon, but they were a pack. Cosima knew she'd be forgiven eventually, even if it took a few weeks for Sarah to cool. She was family, she had to be.

 


	16. Lapdog

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sarah and Rachel come face to face

 Reluctantly, Delphine left at dusk, with a surplus of kisses and a tight hug, careful not to squeeze Cosima's shoulder too tightly, and promised she would be back the next morning. The last thing she wanted to do was leave Cosima's side, but she had work waiting, work that couldn't be taken home with her, and as distasteful as the whole business was becoming, Delphine would have given her right arm to be able to walk in the sun again. Her arm itched, still not fully healed from Sarah's bite, but she was used to her injuries lingering. Her refusal to feed as often as she should have had hampered her regenerative abilities, but it was a risk and an inconvenience she was happy to carry.

She had just enough time to shower and change before she had to leave, scraping her hair back as she went to keep it from poofing out when it dried, and tried not to scratch at her arm. Drawing attention to it would only bring trouble. Every DYAD employee was required to report injuries, whether they were sustained at work or not, regardless of it was another vamp who caused it, or a human, or a wolf. She went over the charts Leekie handed to her, glad that he was otherwise occupied, and settled back in her chair to examine the results of all the extensive testing DYAD had been doing over the past month or so.

Halfway through the night she rolled her sleeves up without thinking, and when Leekie glanced over at her his sharp eyes immediately latched onto the faint red punctures still dotted around Delphine's arm, painfully obvious. She realized her error just before Aldous demanded to know what had happened. _This is a terrible time for you to pretend to care,_ Delphine thought spitefully as she yanked her sleeve back down, but his gaze was stern and she had no choice but to answer him. _Please don't say anything about Cosima, not about Cosima, please._

“Sarah Manning,” she ground out, the answer being tugged from her throat. “She attacked me in the middle of the day. She had a white wolf with her. Please, don't make a fuss out of it, Aldous. I'm fine.” But Aldous wasn't listening, and his eyes had a terrifyingly satisfied look in them. “Aldous?” He ignored her, digging into his pocket for his cell phone.

“Prepare the strike team,” he said after the faint hello from the other line. “We have a lead.” His eyes narrowed at Delphine, a cruel smile twisting his lips. “And the bait.”

“I will not be your _bait_ ,” Delphine hissed. Leekie ended the call and slipped his phone back into his pocket, reaching out to touch Delphine's cheek. Delphine knocked his hand away, recoiling from the touch.

“My dear,” he said, unphased as he went back to his own work, “I'm afraid you'll find you don't have any choice in the matter.”

They dressed her in jogging gear and sent her into the woods near where she'd been attacked, thankfully far enough from Cosima's that her lover wouldn't be in any danger, and Delphine was powerless to resist the push of Aldous' will on her. She stood still for as long as she could, stubborn, until the captain of the troop sent to escort her jabbed her in the back and ordered her to move. She narrowed her eyes at him and snarled, exposing her teeth, but her only showed his own.

“Give me a reason to put a bullet in your head,” he growled, red eyes flashing. Delphine clasped her jaw shut tightly and began to jog, desperately trying to think of a way to get herself out of the situation she had been unwillingly thrown into.

 

Sarah smelled her the second she stepped foot in the woods. How Cosima could stand her rancid scent she would never know, but Sarah growled and followed the stink of cold, dead flesh and a lifeless heart through the woods, padding silently. She normally didn't shift so often, but it felt good to let go, and the change came easily. Helena, who hadn't left her side since the previous night, followed suit, a silent ghost jogging at her shoulder. It was dangerous being so exposed, but the sun had set, and her prey was too close to resist the temptation of ripping her throat out. Her family had been threatened, and the vamp already had Cosima under her thumb. Sarah wouldn't stand for it, not now, and not ever. Cosima was too naïve to know what was best for her. She would be upset, but eventually she would come to see that Sarah was right, and fall back in line.

She smelled the others too late, focused as she was on killing her prey, and suddenly there were needles piercing her flesh. She snarled and ripped some out, but more came. She lunged, ripping out the throats of the soldiers surrounding Delphine, raking her nails through their soft flesh and leaving them screaming, but the drugs were strong, and quick, and Sarah had taken enough to kill a horse, let alone subdue a wolf. A man with short hair and red eyes stood over her as she toppled to the ground, gun aimed at her head. She tried to stand, but her legs refused to move, and after a few seconds she couldn't keep her eyes open, and the drugs blackened her mind.

 

Cosima heard Delphine before she knocked hurriedly on the door, sweating and dirty, panic in her eyes. Before she could ask what was wrong Delphine had pushed inside, running shaking hands through her hair and babbling about Sarah and Helena, DYAD, a trap, how Delphine didn't mean for any of it to happen but Leekie was her _sire_ and if he ordered her to do something she had no choice but to do it and she was sorry, so so sorry, and if there was anything, _anything_ she could do to help, to make things right, to tell her, because she loved Cosima and she never wanted any of this to happen. She was gulping in great breaths of air when she finished, her eyes wet like she wanted to cry, but no tears dripping from them down her cheeks. Cosima sank into a chair while her mind processed everything Delphine had said while Delphine helped herself to one of the blood bags Cosima had taken to keeping in the fridge for her, ripping it open with her teeth and not even bothering with a glass.

“We need to tell Mrs. S.,” Cosima finally said, her voice cracking and her heart breaking. She felt sick. “And Alison. We have-we have to get her out of there. They'll kill her. They'll kill both of them.”

“I know,” Delphine said weakly. She had blood pooled at the corner of her mouth. Silently, Cosima stood and crossed to her, wiping it away with her thumb before cradling Delphine's cheek in her palm, making the blonde meet her eyes.

“It's not your fault, Delphine,” she said softly. “You didn't have a choice. I know you wouldn't have done this. I know you care about all of us.” Delphine nodded, and nuzzled against Cosima's hand. “Mrs. S. will know what to do. She always does.” She tried a smile, but it felt weak and watery. “Ready to meet the rest of the family?” It earned her a laugh at least.

“As ready as I will ever be.” Cosima stroked her thumb along Delphine's cheek then let her hand fall, turning to fetch her drop bag, but Delphine grabbed her wrist. “Cosima?” Cosima tilted her head and pushed her glasses back up her nose. “I love you.” Cosima grinned, broad and wolfish.

“Yeah,” she said. “Ditto.”

Mrs. S. looked less than pleased, and Alison, who Cosima had called on the way to Siobhan's house, looked like she was about to have a heart attack, her face pale and her hands shaking. She downed her glass of wine, then presented her hand to Delphine for a civil, if stiff, introduction. Mrs. S. had her arms crossed, a mug of tea in one hand, and a stern look on her face.

“So you're the one who's caused all the trouble, then,” she said when Delphine regarded her with a sheepish look, hands clasped in front of her and head bowed.

“I want to help,” the blonde said, raising her eyes. They were fierce. “Whatever it takes, I will do it. Anything. I can get you inside the building without drawing attention, and I can help you get back out again.”

“And would you be willing to... dispose of anyone who was in the way?” Mrs. S. asked. The meaning was clear. She was being asked to risk her life, to kill her own kind, to help someone who had hurt her, and who had tried to kill her not once, but twice. Delphine raised her head, face set, and nodded once.

“Yes,” she said, determination strengthening her voice. “I am.”

 

 

The second she was awake, she was on her feet, naked and sore, her body covered in needle pricks, the drugs still foggy in her head. She growled, low in her throat, immediately looking for a way out, but there was only one door in the room the vamps had put her in, and it was no doubt locked tight. The window was too high for her to reach, reinforced to protect the bastards that sat behind it. She could see shapes moving, hear faint muttering, and footsteps on the other side of the door. She crouched down, preparing herself.

The men, no, the inhuman monsters, swept into the room. Sarah could have laughed. Leekie had underestimated her. They were bulky, strong and feral, but unarmed, and Sarah made quick work of them even with the tranqs still stuffing her veins. She was exhausted by the time she had smeared six sets of brains and guts across the room, her mouth and hands covered in blood, teeth bared for the vampires in the observation room to see.

“Try me!” she shouted at them. “Just you bloody try!” There was no answer of course, save another wave of feral vamps. Disgusted, Sarah launched herself towards them. They were like canon fodder, their blood disgusting and warm in her mouth, on her tongue, between her teeth, but she was starting to tire, and it showed. She waited for another group to come, her heart slamming against her ribs and her chest heaving, but the room and the hall outside were both achingly quiet. Sarah looked up at the observation window. She snarled at them, and started to pace, then eyed up the door. If she tried hard enough she could ram it down. If she was quick enough she could slip past the next time they opened it and kill anyone who got in her way. God knows where they had put Helena, but Sarah wasn't about to let a nest of vampires think they could keep her or her family in captivity.

 

“Rachel,” Aldous said smoothly, sounding both frustrated and impressed at Manning's endurance. “Go take care of this. I want her brought to heel.” Rachel bristled at his tone, at how he thought he could order her around like she was one of his dreadful underlings. A growl was in her throat but she clamped down on it, and crossed her arms over her chest. When she didn't reply or move to do as he said, Aldous glared at her and bared his teeth. “Now.”

“Why on Earth should I be the one to do that?” she snapped.

“Because I ordered you to,” Aldous replied. The guards at the door stepped closer, guns at the ready. Rachel did growl then, low and deep. She wasn't like Sarah Manning. She was proper, sophisticated. She didn't take part in the savage rituals that the rest of her kind did. Her food was brought to her, her transformations carefully controlled in a comfortable room. She was not a soldier Aldous could send to do her bidding, but it seemed as though she had little choice. When one of the guards moved to follow her, she glared at him and held up her hand. She would face this creature alone. She rolled her neck and shoulders as she strode down the stairs and the short corridor to the test room's door, and stepped inside with all the confidence she could muster when the door was opened for her.

Sarah Manning raised her head, snarling, then stopped, a flicker of confusion darting across her face. She straightened her body, still tense, but no longer ready to spring. The room stank of blood. Rachel licked her lips and tilted her chin up.

“You're fuckin' kidding me...” Sarah muttered. Rachel remained silent. She knew how she smelled. She knew the conclusions Sarah must have been drawing. They were wrong. “Another one.” The wolf ran a hand through her dark hair. “Look at you,” she said. “Leekie's bitch, eh?” A snarl tickled the back of Rachel's throat. She let it. “You let him train you like a puppy and lock you up in a cage, and now he's using you to fight his battles. Against your own kind.”

“I fight my own battles,” Rachel said calmly, smoothing down her skirt and daintily stepping over a body. “And you are not my kind. We are nothing alike; I am no wild animal.” Manning laughed at that and shook her head in disbelief.

“Yeah, yeah you are, and here you are, a bloody perfectly trained vampire lapdog. It's pathetic.” Rachel drew back her lips, baring her fangs. Leekie had ordered her to deal with this vermin and she would. She was no vampire pet. She was Rachel Duncan, proud and powerful, and she would not be talked down to by a wild dog.

“I will show you how pathetic I am,” she hissed. Manning leapt at her and Rachel almost laughed at how _arrogant_ she was, thinking that she could put Rachel down. She easily dodged the sharp teeth and blood-crusted nails that flew at her and grabbed Manning's throat, the muscles in her arm flexing as the threw the wolf back, launching her clear across the room. Her gums stretched as her teeth grew, eyes turning from hazel to amber. Manning scrambled to her feet, wiping blood off her neck where Rachel's nails had cut her flesh and tried again, but each time Rachel eluded her, ripping flesh and muscle with her teeth, until all she saw was red and Sarah on the ground beneath her, struggling against the nails that Rachel had digging into her windpipe. Her hand and arm flexed as she prepared to yank, ignoring the irritating, tinny voice of Aldous over the loudspeaker telling her to desist. She was not his lapdog. She would show him that she would not be controlled.

Manning stared up at her in wide-eyed panic, her body squirming, her hands tearing at Rachel's wrist. Behind her, the door burst open, and a squad of men stormed in and grabbed her, half of them dragging her growling and flailing, her bones shifting under her skin out of the room and the other half lifting a terrified, bloody, broken Sarah Manning off the floor. They man-handled into her office, barring her in. She threw her weight against the door, skin breaking where her bones pushed too hard against it, leaving splits and reds of run on her shoulders and ribs. The blood soaked through her dress. Again she pounded the door, howling, wanting Sarah's heart in her teeth, until she exhausted herself, leaving behind a dent and claw marks in the thick steel.


	17. Break Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A fight is started, a newcomer is found, and someone turns tail.

They threw Sarah into a cell, small, made of steel a glass too thick to break, and threw in clothes after her before slamming the door shut. She grabbed for them, her entire body trembling and sore, her throat bruised and tears in her eyes, and guided them over her bruised flesh before curling up in the corner. Her whole body ached. Her head felt like someone was pounding it with a hammer, and Rachel Duncan had thoroughly kicked her ass. She shuddered when she remembered the murderous look in the woman's eyes. She would have had no qualms about ripping Sarah's throat out, orders from Leekie, aside, regardless of them being kin.

A tapping from outside her cell drew her attention. With a groan, she lifted her head, pressing her hands to the bruises on her throat, and sighed with relief when she saw Helena across the thin hall, in a cell of her own, pressed against the glass and knocking on it with her knuckles. Her clothes, stained with red, were crooked, and she had marks scattered on her arms and bruises on her hands, but she was alive, looking at Sarah with bright, excited eyes.

“Helena?” Sarah croaked.

“They put things inside me, sestra, but I kill them, and now I am in here, but now you are here, too, and we can make plan, yes? We kill the unholy ones and we rejoin our pack.” Sarah's heart clenched painfully. She slouched against the glass, pressing her hot flesh against the cold surface.

“I don't think we can do that, Helena,” she said, loud enough that Helena could hear her through the glass, her voice cracking. Helena tilted her head, confusion spreading through her. This was not the sestra that she knew. Sarah was strong, loud, brash, but she sounded like a scolded puppy, like a terrified child, a dog with its tail between its legs. She slouched down to the floor. Across the hall came a little choked sob, and Sarah rubbed at her eyes. “We made a mistake.” And Helena knew, suddenly, that they were far, far in over their heads, and she remembered Tomas' eyes on her, cold and steady and _angry_ , and knew that bad things were going to happen to both of them.

 

Delphine got them all into the building using the tunnel that connected her apartment to the office building. It was a pain getting three wolves through a building full of vampires, but no one bothered stepping outside their homes. No doubt they were sleeping, the sun hanging low, but still in the sky. Sarah and Helena had been in DYAD's possession for a full day, and there was no knowing what shape they would be in, or if they would even be alive. Leekie was a harsh, vindictive man. Whatever those two wolves had done to irk him so much, he would be certain they paid for it. Delphine gave the impression that she was leading the pack, but really she was just a vague guide for how to get around the building, taking instructions from the three wolves behind her, teeth bared and eyes amber, sniffing out their packmates.

They didn't meet any resistance until they entered the upper levels where DYAD kept their subjects. One man didn't seem too much trouble, and Siobhan cracked his neck, but they hadn't anticipated the soldier around the corner, and the air was too thick with the scent of vampires for any of the wolves to pick up on his, and he had slammed the alarm before any of them could do anything about it. A blaring siren filled the halls, so loud it hurt Delphine's ears. The soldier raised his gun to fire, but then a grizzled wolf with dark fur streaked with grey rushed past Delphine and pounced on him. When Delphine turned to look, Alison and Cosima were gone, growling wolves in their place, and Delphine knew that they were out of time.

She jogged after the three of them, letting them lead her to where Sarah was being kept, killing without hesitation. These men were not her kind. They were ruthless, emotionless, thoughtless. All they did was follow orders, all they knew was killing. Their blood stained her mouth and chin but she didn't care. Her only thought was to protect Cosima. The wolves bounded up the stairs, Delphine after them like a flash when they'd all made it through the door. They left a trail of corpses in their wake, but even through the stench of death mingling with sterile air, Delphine could tell they were drawing closer.

 

The hinges squeaked as Rachel threw her weight against the door. It bowed, but didn't break. How _dare_ they lock her up? _How dare they keep her in the dark_? She was the _face_ of the company. The finance. She was the bloody _keystone_. When she got her hands on Leekie she was going to wring his skinny neck, but first... With a shout, Rachel barrelled into the door again and it gave way under her strength, crashing to the floor. The startled guards to either side barely had time to raise their guns before Rachel had raked her nails across both their throats and left them to fall to the ground, clutching uselessly at the blood that spurted from their necks.

She was in control of her shift again, now, her mind on a mission. Find Sarah Manning. Kill her. Show her, show all of them, what she was truly capable of, and take this business out of Leekie's hands and direct it towards a brighter future, brighter than he would ever be able to see, blinded as he was by his _obsession_ with killing and capturing all werewolves, twisting them into some poor excuse for an army, proving vampire dominance over them and humans both.

No one tried to stop her. They were too busy rushing around, that bloody alarm still blaring. She followed them, swift and silent. Where they were going is where she would find Manning, and then she would deal with the intruders. She would single-handedly save this business and then they would see, they would all see, exactly what Rachel Duncan was made of.

 

The soldiers seemed never ending, but they were feral and untrained and easily dispatched. Delphine was coated in blood, could see it coated in the fur of her companions, staining white muzzles and teeth red and dripping off Cosima's chin. Her lover's ears were flat against her head as she sank her fangs into someone's throat, her claws leaving bloody gouges in his chest. They were on one of the floors where wolves were kept. The only question was if it was where they had thrown Sarah. Delphine smashed the door in with little effort and the wolves flew past her. Siobhan skidded to a stop in front of one of the cells then swung her head at Delphine and growled, scratching at the glass. In an instant Delphine was at her side, ripping the door off, and helping an injured, limping Sarah stand.

“Thank bloody God,” the wolf choked out, collapsing to her knees by Siobhan and wrapping her arms around her foster mother's neck, burying her face in her fur. Siobhan licked her neck then nosed her until she stood on shaking feet, while Delphine yanked open the door to Helena's cell. With her sister at her side, Sarah met Delphine's eyes, and while they were clouded with hate and mistrust, she nodded once. “How the hell do we get out of here?” she asked. Delphine shrugged.

“It doesn't matter now. They'll have shut the lifts, blocked the exits. We will have to fight.” Cosima circled around her legs, head bumping against Delphine's hip. Sarah cracked her neck loudly, knuckles following. Helena looked at her with worship in her eyes.

“Let's kill us some vamps,” she growled and turned on her heel. Delphine doubted very much that Sarah could fight in her current state, but she didn't risk arguing, letting the others lead as she brought up the back. They passed by the rest of the cells in the room, all empty... except one. A woman, _another one,_ Delphine thought absently, was banging on the glass, looking thoroughly relieved when Sarah and Delphine noticed.

“Uh, hi,” she called in a pleasant, friendly voice. “I'm Jen. Since it's seems you're staging a mass break out could you maybe, on, I dunno, break me out?” Delphine looked at Sarah, who nodded brusquely, and broke the lock on the door, letting it swim open. Jen gratefully stepped out and took a deep breath. “Christ, never thought I'd breathe fresh air again,” she quipped, then looked at Delphine, suddenly suspicious.

“She's with us,” Sarah said quickly. “And we need to go, now. Introductions can come later. Can you fight?”

“Hell yeah I can fight,” Jen replied, licking her lips.

“Good,” Sarah said. Delphine heard Jen's bones popping and a hiss of pain that sounded worse than it should have, then another wolf slunk past her, skin and fur and bones, padding after the others. Delphine followed, Cosima close to her side. Just as she had said, their options were limited. Some doors Delphine just couldn't break down, a safeguard in case something like this happened, but she knew all the escape routes. Unfortunately, so did the soldiers that DYAD employed. They found their way blocked by an army of feral vampires, armed with silver bullets and a lust for blood. Even with three wolves at full strength, a vampire of their own, and three others who, while they were weak, could still defend themselves, they were hard-pressed to win.

Finally, they neared an exit, through one of the assembly rooms, one that Delphine said would take them right out of the building. Cosima looked around, her ears perked, twitching as she listened. They were actually winning. The white walls of the room were splashed with blood, and the floors ran red, but none of it was their own. Everyone was tearing through the opposition, even Delphine, blood flecked across her face and in her hair, and her eyes dark and wild. Then, the world stopped. There were no soldiers, but there was a new scent, an unfamiliar one, tainted with anger and adrenaline. Helena, who like her sister hadn't had the energy to shift, was standing in front of a blonde with the same face, short, professional bob in a disarray, and her white blazer and skirt stained red. The newcomer's hands were on her jaw and head, twisting it at an awkward angle. All it would take was a twitch and Helena's neck would be broken.

A flicker of movement to her right caught Cosima's eye. She swung her head around with a growl, but nothing was there. Softly snarling, she glanced up. Leekie was crouched on the balcony that ran around the room, hidden behind a row of seats, a gun in his hand. Cosima could smell the silver in the bullets. He had it aimed at Helena and the new wolf, obviously waiting, and Cosima knew, in an instant, that if Helena wasn't murdered by the woman behind her Leekie would do it himself. The answer was a logical one; she was the smallest, save Helena herself, the quickest, the quietest, and no one was looking at her, not even Delphine. Her tail twitched. This man had victimized her kind, had stolen Delphine's life from her. He deserved to die. She carefully backed away from the group, turned tail, and began moving towards the stairs at the side of the room.

Sarah, hands raised placactingly, took a careful step towards Rachel and Helena. Rachel's hands twitched and Helena flinched, and Sarah stopped dead in her tracks. That same look was in Rachel's eyes, but it was calmer. She could be reasoned with. Sarah was shite at reasoning. She had always been kill first ask questions later, but that wasn't going to work now, not with Helena in death's hands.

“Rachel...” Sarah said. “Let her go. Please. Let _us_ go.”

“Why should I? You have ruined _everything_ , you and Aldous both. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill all of you.” The threat wasn't empty. Rachel was strong, wilder than she wanted to admit. Sarah doubted any of them would stand a chance against her, especially if she shifted, not even Mrs. S. It felt wrong in Sarah's chest, seeing Rachel as a pawn. No wolf deserved that fate, not even her.

“We're not the enemy,” she said. “We can help you, but you have to help us. I know you hate who you are, but you can't hide from it. We can help you. We have pills, pills that'll stop the change. Pills that'll muzzle this... this monster that's in all of us.” Rachel's eyes narrowed, but her grip on Helena had relaxed. The motion was almost imperceptible, but Sarah's vision was sharp. She was winning. “You don't owe this company anything. Even if you kill Leekie, someone else will take his place. Do you really want to spend the rest of your life in a cage for something you can't help?” The conflict was plain on Rachel's face. Behind her, Sarah's pack shifted and growled. “Please, just let her go.” For an achingly long moment everything was deadly quiet, but then the sound of a gun firing and a painful howl shattered the silence. Rachel flinched and Helena used the moment of weakness to squirm away, growling as she grabbed Rachel's throat and shoved her against the wall, lifting her off the ground.

“Cosima!” Delphine cried in anguish as Sarah shouted for Helena to put Rachel down. Helena dropped Rachel after a second of hesitation. The blonde collapsed to the floor, propped up on one arm and holding her throat with the other, gasping for breath. Sarah twisted, following the scent of smoke. From the gap in the balcony rail she could see Cosima's prone form, could smell the silver, and in a flicker of colour Delphine was there, knocking a gun out of Leekie's hands. He opened his mouth to try and protest, but Delphine slammed her hand over it and pushed his head to the side so violently that Sarah heard it crack, her face contorted as she sank her teeth into his neck. A minute later he crumpled to the ground, no more than a husk, dead skin dry and brittle and shattering as he hit the ground, breaking into dust.

No one moved. Delphine was on her knees, pulling Cosima's head into her lap, stroking the fur between her eyes and behind her ears. Sarah couldn't breathe. They were all allergic to silver, but Cosima was the worst. If that had hit any of her organs, she was done for. She wouldn't be able to heal unless they got the silver out, and fast, and even then chances were small. If it hadn't, they still needed to flush the silver from her system before it polluted too much of her blood. She could hear Delphine muttering to her, and watched as Cosima's fur rippled. She was trying to shift back but her body wouldn't let her. Finally, she found her voice.

“Oi, everyone! We need to move now!” She looked at Rachel, still cowering on the floor. “Are you comin' with us or not?” Rachel swallowed visibly with a wince, and shakily nodded. It should have been comical, watching Delphine carry Cosima, who was larger than a wolf even though she was small for their kind, but the severity of the situation completely destroyed any possible humour. Sarah swiftly led her ragtag group out of the building, easily dispatching what little opposition they faced, following Delphine's quiet, thick voiced directions. They piled into Alison's van, parked in the alley behind the building. Sarah slid into the passenger seat, Helena next to her. The tires squealed as she gunned the engine. There was a crack, and Sarah glanced behind her to see that Jen had shifted back first, and was curled up on the floor shivering.

“There's blankets in the back,” Sarah said gruffly. Jen lifted a hand in thanks, but before she could move Rachel had turned around and grabbed one of the quilts. Jen thanked her quietly and wrapped it around herself. Alison was curled up between the front and back seats, behind Sarah's chair, and Siobhan sat directly above her. Rachel had been sandwiched between her and Delphine, who was still half holding Cosima on her lap. Sarah flexed her fingers around the wheel and turned off the main roads. The back way would get here there faster, and Cosima was running out of time.

The rest of them, save Cosima, had shifted by the time Sarah parked the car in Alison's garage, and tiredly pulled on the clothes packed in the large bag Alison had thrown in the back before they left. Bloody and bruised, stumbling, the eight of them squeezed out of the van and hurried in through the back door. Cosima was walking, but barely, leaning heavily against Delphine's leg.

“In here,” Alison said softly when they were all inside, pointing to the craft room. Delphine directed Cosima towards it and Siobhan followed, leaving the door open only a crack. Through it, Sarah could see Cosima curl up and put her head in Delphine's lap. She was whimpering, and twitching, and Sarah knew Siobhan was picking apart her shoulder to get to the bullet still embedded in her flesh, and giving her a shot to fight off whatever silver leaked into her blood. Sarah slouched on the sofa, her head in her hands. Helena sat next to her, curled up in a ball, leaning into her side. Alison announced that she would make tea, which probably meant she'd be bringing down wine, too.

“I'll help,” Sarah said automatically, but Alison poked her shoulder and she winced, and that was her answer. Under her breath she grumbled how it was a bloody good thing that Alison wasn't alpha and ran a hand through her hair. She stank, they all did. Rachel was a silent figure in the armchair, looking decidedly uncomfortable in clothes that weren't hers, but her face relaxed when Jen returned from the bathroom and sat on the arm of the chair next to her. Cosima's whimpering stopped, and Siobhan joined Alison upstairs. They both came back bearing gifts of tea and wine a minute later, at the same time that the door to the craft door creaked.

“Sarah?” Delphine called softly. Sarah craned around with some difficultly, her muscles protesting. “I should probably take a look at you as well. I know the extent of DYAD's testing and... you have been through a lot, and some of those cuts look like they need stitches.”

“I'm fine,” Sarah said stiffly. Alison snorted. “What? I bloody am.”

“You're _bloody_ bleeding all over my sofa,” Alison said, mock accent to boot. “Get your ass in there and get looked at.” Sarah rolled her eyes but did was she was told. There was a first aid kid spread out on the craft table, and Cosima was curled up in the corner, sleeping. Sarah sat on a stool and let Delphine fuss over her, cleaning her cuts and stitching the deep ones. She didn't smell so bad now, Sarah realized, sitting perfectly still until Delphine handed her a glass of water and two painkillers. In the corner, Cosima snuffled and shifted, ears flicking.

“I should take her home,” Delphine said softly. Sarah grunted and downed the pills, wincing as she worked her sore throat.

“If you hurt her, I'll kill you,” Sarah said evenly, then grinned. Delphine returned it, her shoulders relaxing. Sarah grabbed her elbow before she moved too far away. “And thanks. For back there. I get what Cos sees in you now. You're all right.” Delphine laid a hand over hers and squeezed before pulling away and crouching before Cosima. When Sarah started to hear her packmate's shift starting back she made herself scarce, and lounged back on the sofa again next to Helena, closing her eyes.

 

The wind rushed through her fur, the night air cool against her face. Her shoulder was still stiff and sore, and her shift had hurt more than it should have, but it felt good to be free and running with her pack again, with no secrets to hide. Sarah and Rachel led the way, ever fighting for dominance but grudgingly splitting it between them, with Helena on Sarah's heels as she always was. Jen had taken a liking to Rachel and Alison and played the mediator between them. Cosima liked to think that Jen had filled the hole left in Alison's heart by Beth's death, or at least made it less noticeable. They had eaten already, gorged themselves, but with DYAD diminished, possibly forever, there was no rush to get back to their drop and the safety of a house, not until the sun started to rise and they risked having to walk back human and naked.

That was always when Delphine properly joined them. Cosima knew in the human part of her mind it was gross, but she couldn't help but kill something small, a squirrel or a chipmunk, and set it at her girlfriends feet when Delphine appeared at her side. Delphine always laughed and ruffled the fur around her neck, leaving Cosima's offering where she put it. It was a squirrel that Cosima left this time, panting happily and thumping her tail against the ground. Delphine laughed.

“That is very sweet of you, Cosima,” she said, “but still disturbing. Come, shall we race back?” She was gone in a flash. Cheater, Cosima thought playfully, bounding after her as fast as she could. If Delphine could run faster than her she never did, but Cosima suspected she was holding back, since they always ended up back at the house about the same time, and usually after the others, Cosima falling behind to find her gift for Delphine after every hunt. She was laughing and breathless when she shifted back, letting Delphine put her glasses on her face, falling into lazy kisses as she tried to get dressed.

They were still kissing when they tumbled inside the house into a mess of activity, Felix cooking and Mrs. S. and Sarah drinking coffee. In the other room, Helena was playing with Kira, and Jen, Rachel and Alison talking and setting plate and forks out for everyone. Cosima was surprised at how well Rachel settled into their messy, dysfunctional life. She supposed Jen had a lot to do with that. The two of them had moved into the flat were Jen had used to live before DYAD captured her, not too far from Alison's, and the three of them were attached at the hip. Helena went wherever Sarah did, as usual, and Kira loved her. Felix and Delphine had kicked it off as well, although he had evidently given Delphine a stern talking to the first time they met, the details of which Delphine adamantly refused to divulge to her. Sarah noticed them first, and through a grin shouted,

“Oi, lovebirds! Knock it off, breakfast is almost ready.” Cosima detached herself from Delphine's lips with a breathless giggle, her arms still draped around the blonde's neck. She stuck her tongue out at Sarah, who rolled her eyes and stuck two fingers up at her. Mrs. S. chastised her, smacking the back of her hand into Sarah's shoulder. Delphine looked sheepish and stepped back from Cosima, but reached for her hand instead, and when no one was looking brushed her lips over Cosima's knuckles.

“Je t'aime,” she whispered, and like it did every time Delphine said it, whether it was through laughter or whispered into her ear or against her skin, Cosima's heart fluttered and threatened to beat right out of her chest. Delphine grinned.

“Asshole,” Cosima muttered, knowing that Delphine could hear it. “Go say hi to Kira. She's dying to see you.” Delphine hummed and squeezed Cosima's palm, then swayed off. Rachel followed after her with a stack of plates, and began to meticulously set them around the dining room table, making sure everything was perfect. She was as bad as Alison in that respect, probably one of the reasons they got along as well as they did. Cosima couldn't help but smile. She hadn't seen everyone so happy since before Beth had died. It's like they were finally a family again. A large, dysfunctional, weird family full of supernatural creatures and one odd human out, but a family nevertheless.

 


End file.
